“All my life, I’ve been sick and tired. Now I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.” ~ Frannie Lou Hamer
Have you ever heard or used the phrase “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired?” In today’s culture, this phrase is frequently quoted in recovery circles. Addicts and alcoholics are describing their battle with addiction from a hopeless state of mind and body. However, the original term comes from Frannie Lou Hamer, a voting rights activist, civil rights leader, and humanitarian who made this statement during the 1964 democratic convention. Hamer stated that she and countless other women and people of color are sick and tired of fighting oppression and dehumanization.
What areas of your life or injustices in the world have you saying, “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired?” For many, it’s their up and down battle with weight loss and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. For others, adhering to the CDC protocols for fighting COVID-19 is exhausting. The truth is every person has some hurt, habit, or hang-up that ails them. But what about others’ concerns you? What is going around you, your community, and throughout the world that has you sick and tired of the same ole same ole?
God is a God of love. God created the entire world out of love, with the purpose of all creatures living in peace and harmony. When we look around the world, and throughout history, we witness broken systems where specific individuals and entities strive for power, glory, and prestige at others’ expense. The result is certain groups and demographics of God’s kids become marginalized and oppressed. In the world of the Spirit, what breaks God’s heart, should break ours. The things of this world that cause God to say, “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired,” should be the things that cause us to feel the same.
Pause for a minute to reflect in silence on this question and be honest with yourself. Is it okay with God that gun violence, addiction, sex trafficking, domestic violence, sexual abuse, mental abuse, physical abuse, verbal abuse, starvation, oppression, systemic racism, homelessness, political divide, etc., occur every minute of every day? If it’s not okay with God, and you claim to be a person of faith, or a self-proclaimed decent human being, then shouldn’t the same be said for you as well? What makes God sick and tired of being sick and tired should make all of us sick and tired of being sick and tired, wouldn’t you agree?
The problem with sharing in God’s heartache is that we feel it’s up to God to fix the world’s problems. The majority of people watch the news, read the paper, scour the web, absorbing all the latest news of injustice and suffering in the world, and then boldly pray for God to do something, all the while getting sick and tired of waiting on God. God’s response to all of us is this, “I did do something about it; I created you.” It’s up to you to partner with others, and speak up, speak out, and stand in solidarity with those suffering the injustices in the world. God works through people to help others get what they need, not because they deserve it but because they need it. God’s character stands on the pillars of justice, righteousness, and shalom/peace.
What action will you take today to address the matters in your life and the world that have you hurting and saying, “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired?”
Lord, thank You for revealing your true character to the world. Please allow our hearts to break the way your heartbreaks. Remove the extreme individualism that prevents us from focusing on anyone other than ourselves. Please grant us the awareness, willingness, and courage to stand in solidarity with those marginalized and oppressed. Please help us draw inspiration from people like Frannie Lou Hamer, who became sick and tired of the same things that make You sick and tired. In Your Spirit and Name, we pray these things. May Your will always materialize, now and forever. Amen.
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