“Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. ²⁶ She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. ²⁷ She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸ for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” ²⁹ Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. ³⁰ Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” ³¹ And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’” ³² He looked all around to see who had done it. ³³ But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. ³⁴ He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” Mark 5:25-34

We are talking about the phrase “OK, Boomer”, and digging deeper into the reasons for why people from different generations do not always agree with one another. And, we are asking the question: “Why do people resist change?” Well, here is the second of four possible reasons:

 2. People feel overwhelmed or stressed during times of change, and many often feel overwhelmed and stressed every day.

Fatigue can be a killjoy for change. Fatigue and stress can be a serious health concern. But, what is fatigue? We can experience fatigue in three different dimensions: mental fatigue, physical fatigue, and emotional fatigue. Mental fatigue is what we feel after exerting ourselves cognitively, using our brains to solve tasks. We can experience mental fatigue doing simple, repetitive tasks, or more complex tasks like writing a paper or completing an exam. We often experience physical fatigue doing tasks that really tire us out, like running a marathon, or doing heavy labor. Physical fatigue comes from the depletion of stored energy to power our limbs. Emotional exhaustion is perhaps most difficult to define because it often affects us physically and mentally as well. It is the fatigue that stems from stress as well as social demands, like when you have to smile even though you are not happy. When we gather together as the people of G-d, or even in a business meeting, we may be a gathering of people who are fatigued and stressed just from life. This can be one of the reasons people may resist change — simply because they’re tired. And when people are tired, they tend to be cranky, angry, and irritable (though this never happens in the church, right?). When this is the case, leaders have to be understanding of people’s complaints and attentive to their stress levels throughout the change process. And when we can move the reasoning for change away from the part of the brain that deals with emotion, and confront it with facts and reasoning, then we may find people will be more accepting of change.

The woman with the bleeding disorder was tired and at her wits end. She was desperate for change – and in particular a change in her luck and in her health. She was physically fatigued for she had suffered for so many years. She was mentally fatigued because she had worked through all the people she thought might help her, and she was still sick. And she was emotionally fatigued because she was at her wits end. And so she turned to Jesus. She had heard of his ability to change people’s lives, and she figured she had nothing to lose. We shouldn’t wait until we are so mentally, physically, or emotionally fatigued that we turn to Jesus out of desperation. Instead, like the woman who heard about Jesus, we should take the time now to investigate his love, mercy and grace – and we shouldn’t let anything stand in our way. Jesus is waiting for us to finally decide we do not need to face this life alone. And when we go to Jesus in faith, he too will say to us “Your faith has saved your, and will make the difference in this life, and in the age to come.”

Pastor Dave