When Exhaustion is Evidence of Faith

This is Father Jared Cramer from St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven, Michigan, here with today’s edition of Christian Mythbusters, a regular segment I offer to counter some common misconceptions about the Christian faith. One of the quiet myths I hear all the time—especially right now—is this: “If I’m exhausted by the news, my faith must be weak.” If you’re feeling that way, let me say this as clearly as I can: that myth is false. And believing it does real spiritual damage. Exhaustion is not a failure of faith. In fact, exhaustion is often a sign that your heart is still open—that you are still paying attention in a world that gives us endless reasons to shut down, harden up, or go numb. The truly dangerous spiritual posture isn’t weariness; it’s indifference. The mystics of the church have known this for centuries—the pain and ache you feel in your heart is not because you are losing your connection with God. Rather, it is usually the Holy Spirit moving within you, pricking your heart, cultivating tenderness, compassion, and an impetus to action. The Bible is also remarkably honest about this. The prophet Jeremiah—sometimes called the “weeping prophet”—doesn’t offer tidy spiritual slogans. He cries out. He accuses. He says, in effect, “God, this is too much, and I don’t understand why you’re letting it happen.” That’s not weak faith. That’s covenantal faith—the kind that trusts God enough to tell the truth. And of course, we see this most clearly in Jesus himself. Jesus weeps at the tomb of Lazarus. Jesus laments over Jerusalem. Jesus prays in Gethsemane with such anguish that the gospel writers struggle to put it into words. At no point does Jesus treat grief, fear, or exhaustion as a spiritual defect. He treats them as part of loving a broken world without turning away from it. Christian faith is not about being endlessly resilient. It’s about being honest before God and one another. Lament is not a detour from faith; it’s one of faith’s deepest expressions. To lament is to refuse to pretend that injustice is normal, that violence is acceptable, or that suffering doesn’t matter. And here’s where this becomes especially important for how we live in the public square. Honest faith—faith that can name exhaustion and grief—actually makes deeper solidarity possible. When we stop pretending that we “have all the answers,” we can stand shoulder to shoulder with people of different faiths, or no faith at all, who are also grieving, angry, and yearning for a more just world. Lament becomes a shared language. When Christians lead with certainty alone, we often end up isolated. But when we lead with truth—when we say, “Yes, this is devastating, and yes, it hurts, and no, we don’t have a neat explanation”—we discover common ground. Not theological agreement, necessarily, but moral clarity and human connection. This kind of honesty doesn’t weaken resistance; it strengthens it. It keeps resistance from becoming performative or cruel. It reminds us that justice work is not about winning arguments, but about protecting human dignity. Lament keeps our resistance rooted in compassion rather than contempt, in love rather than despair. Christian hope, at its best, is not optimism. It’s not denial. It’s the stubborn refusal to believe that suffering gets the last word. And that kind of hope can coexist with tears, fatigue, and righteous anger. In fact, it usually does. So if the news has you worn down, don’t assume your faith is failing. It may be telling you something true: that the world is broken, that love is costly, and that God is still calling us—not to carry everything, but to show up honestly, together. Thanks for being with me. To find out more about my parish, you can go to sjegh.com. Until next time, remember: protest like Jesus, love recklessly, and live your faith out in a community that accepts you but also challenges you to be better tomorrow than you are today.