Season 3 – Blog 21
Matthew 11:28-30 NLT
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
I almost didn’t write a blog post for this month. I was feeling overwhelmed by all of the other responsibilities and urgent needs in the past few weeks. I didn’t know if I would be able to have the time to write anything and if I did, would it be worth reading? Well, you can be the judge of that!
As I had set this post aside, I felt God’s prompting to consider what state I’m in. Am I overwhelmed because I’m trying to do things on my own? Am I depleted because I haven’t been resting as I need to? Am I busy because I need to be or because I haven’t been paying attention to the Spirit’s voice reminding me that I am a limited human being and can’t possibly do everything.
Can you relate? Has your schedule become so busy and overwhelming that you don’t even have time to pause and evaluate what’s going on? You are just sucked in to trying to get everything done, whether you are really able to or not? What about your children? Your family?
I’ve noticed that this fall is a very different one from years past. I’ve found myself making the mistake of thinking that we should be back to “pre-pandemic” normal. That somehow the last three and a half years should just be considered a blip on the calendar and now we should be back to where we were (circa 2019?). But that’s not what’s happening.
I wonder what the long term effects of the pandemic are. Are we experiencing the residual effects of the collective trauma we experienced and are still depleted? Is busyness something we feel we can’t avoid but don’t know how to deal with? Maybe a bit of both? I remember hearing from psychologists during the pandemic that the effects of it would linger for years to come. I think we’re now seeing that.
I love the verse quoted above. It’s a reminder that busyness is not God’s way of doing life. There is work to do as followers of Jesus but I don’t think our Western lifestyle of filling all of our time with work, meetings, activities, and sports is what this means. Jesus is calling us to let him lead us into a new rhythm for life. Let’s read it again in the Message paraphrase:
The Message
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
How does it feel to consider that Jesus wants to lead you into his “unforced rhythms of grace”? Is it stressful to think you may not have control? That’s an issue to consider bringing to God. Does it make you feel anxious that you, your children, or your family might miss out on something you think is important? What could be more important than our relationship with Jesus?
As I consider the roots of my busyness, I wonder how much is about me trying to follow Jesus and how much is really me trying to do life on my own terms, in my own way, with my own goals. Am I willing to walk and work with Jesus – to watch how he does things? Let’s read that passage again, this time in The Voice version:
The Voice
“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Put My yoke upon your shoulders—it might appear heavy at first, but it is perfectly fitted to your curves. Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. When you are yoked to Me, your weary souls will find rest. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”
I can feel the weariness of my soul as I slow down. How desperately I am seeking rest. Not just a nap (although I may need one!) or vacation but a deep, down-to-the-core-of-me kind of rest. I know that’s not something I can do for myself. I need Jesus, my Creator, the one-who-knows-me to show me how to do this.
As parents, we are modeling life for our children. The way we live will likely be the way they live when they are older. Are we modeling lives that are harried, full of busyness, and in desperate need of soul rest? Or are we willing to let Jesus take the lead and show us and our families a new way to live? Lives that include setting aside time to really slow down and be with God as well as each other? Asking him for wisdom before we commit to another thing or sign our children up for another activity or class?
I have noticed that families are coming less consistently to church. I could be wrong but I wonder if the busyness of life has made this the “activity” they are willing to drop. If that’s true for you can I ask you to rethink that? Church is not an activity, it is a community. It is a place for us to build relationships with others who choose to follow Jesus. This is the one place and rhythm that we need to keep regularly so our children can know that our families are not alone in following Jesus. Our church family should be the priority and other activities such as sports and extracurricular activities be the expendable ones. After all, sports careers are short, other activities are for a season, but our relationship with God and his family is for all eternity.
If you are feeling weary, take time to ask Jesus to help you find rest. Trust that he cares for you, has compassion toward you, and wants to lead you into a new way of living that is more in line with how he created you to live. May you find rest for your souls in Jesus and be willing to let him lead you to new rhythms of grace.
Sarah has been Pastor of Children & Families at The Journey Church for seven years. Her passion is to see families growing in their faith with Jesus together and living it out in their homes, neighborhoods, and schools, as well as being deeply connected with their church family. To find out more about The Journey Church ministries go to onthejourney.ca To contact Sarah you can email her at sarah@onthejourney.ca