I don’t know what to think, believe, or do.
I feel like someone came along with an eraser and wiped my life clean.
I feel blank, empty, and lost.
I’m overwhelmed by it all and I don’t feel like I have anything left inside.
I’m exhausted. Even my soul is tired.
When loss hits our souls, the results can be deep and lasting. One of the most immediate results is a sense of spiritual fatigue.
The heaviness and intensity of the grief journey can be incredibly draining. We can quickly become emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually fatigued. Spiritual exhaustion is real, and it is common in the grief process.
There comes a point where the fatigue is so heavy, we begin to shut down. We need a break. We don’t have the energy to deal with the overwhelming cloud of fear of uncertainty that surrounds us. We barely have the strength to eat, much less to pray, think, or engage in anything else heavy.
Perhaps we engage in some spiritual activities or faith family gatherings. After a loss, this can feel awkward and complicated. Our lives have changed, but everyone else’s life appears to be moving along as usual. This new disconnect can be disturbing and drain our energies even further. The sheer amount of change we’re enduring is exhausting.
Simply put, we’re worn out.
How do we deal with this?
We could try increasing our activity, but that takes more energy.
We could try to figure it out, but our mental capacity is already being squeezed. We could “try harder spiritually” (whatever that means), but our tanks are already empty.
When exhausted, the usual prescription that leads to healing involves rest and receiving.
We need down time. We need rest. We need space and margin in our lives more than ever.
When our tank is empty, we need to begin to fill it. We need to find ways to receive good things during this time. Grieving hearts need good, encouraging, hope-giving inflow.
If you’re experiencing spiritual fatigue, rest assured that this is natural and common on this taxing grief journey. Your heart and soul are feeling the weight of the loss.
Be kind to yourself. Get the down time you need. Manage your inflow so that your tank gets filled a bit rather than even further drained. Learn to both rest and receive.
Affirmation:
When spiritual fatigue hits, I’ll be kind to myself by learning to both rest and receive. I’ll get the down time I need and seek good inflow during this draining season of grief.
Suggestions:
When you experience spiritual fatigue, here are a few tips that might be helpful:
- Accept yourself where you are. It’s okay to be spiritually drained. Give yourself permission to not see things perfectly
or even accurately when exhausted. Embrace the spiritual fatigue as part of your heart expressing your love for the one
you lost. - Look at your schedule and consider your current expectations of yourself. Where can you create some space and margin for rest and receiving? What can you let go of or offload to someone else? What is necessary, and what can wait?
- What kinds of things and people seem to bring rest and refreshment to your soul? Make a list. Create some space in your life for these people and activities. These rest-and-refreshment-givers can greatly enhance your soul health.
- Consider your current “inflow.” What influences are you subjected to daily? These influences usually come in two main forms: people and information. We need good, healthy people and influences in our lives right now. How can you manage your “inflow” to maximize the good and minimize the unhelpful?
- Spiritual fatigue is real. Many grieving hearts experience it. Breathe. Rest. Receive.
Excerpt from The Grief Guidebook: Common Questions, Compassionate Answers, Practical Suggestions.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.(2 Corinthians 4:16-18, NIV)
Question: Have you experienced spiritual fatigue in your grief process? Please feel free to share by commenting below.
