Laundry is done. Bags are packed. Leftovers have been cleared from the fridge. I’m sweating. Are the tickets in my purse? Who knows. Say a little prayer and let’s be on our way. Wait, did I check for the chargers? What about glasses? What if we get hungry on the road? Should we stop somewhere to eat or should we just pack a teeny snack? What if we’re late because of stopping for food? Okay, no time for food we will starve. They have food at the airport. But it’s so expensive! What if we run into traffic or our flight is delayed or parking is a nightmare? Am I even caffeinated? Did I drink coffee this morning? If we leave now, I can stop for a quick Dunkin run…no. No Dunkin run. Maybe? Ugh okay what if…what if…what if…
Deep breathe. “Okay, I’m ready!”
And so, the internal dialogue with which is your mind continues down the rabbit hole…anyone else feel this way lately?
Earlier this week, my husband asked me what I wanted to do this weekend. Mind you, this was directly after coming back from a trip down to see family. And as fun and fruitful as seeing family was, the words that popped out of my mouth weren’t date night or night out or adventure or anything that would require activity. My body was exhausted and my brain felt overwhelmed.
Surprisingly choked up, I managed to say “I want to rest”.
It’s easy, you know? Going with the flow of daily life, making plans a month in advance to catch up with friends, or for a double date night in the next 10-20 business days. Why is that? Why have we managed to book out our next several months with vacationing, dinners, events, or what-have-you but we rarely ever book time for ourselves to rest and recharge?
Our world is so caught up on the busyness of life with being able to do more, be more, and achieve more that R-E-S-T feels like the cardinal sin. A cuss word to be gasped about. It’s a practice that’s dead to the modern age. It’s the pain of a busy body’s existence.
Rest? Who needs that anyway? We are here to take charge! To be adults and to check off the to-do lists! We are meant to push ourselves to our limits, to exceed our limits, to go beyond what we ever thought imaginable with what our bodies could do….blah blah blah.
It’s bull…uh…hogwash.
However, God invites us to a different kind of rest.
Matthew 11:28-30 invites us to “come all who are weary and heavily burdened and I [Jesus] will give you rest”. Burdened and weary feel like two extremes and can easily be overlooked for those who don’t feel one way or the other. But I want to harp on these two for just a second.
Weary literally means being exhausted in strength, endurance, vigor, or freshness. Sit with that definition for a minute. What stands out to you?
For myself, I have felt exhausted as I started a new workout plan and it takes everything in me to roll out of bed knowing my muscles are extremely overworked. I feel mentally drained before the clock strikes 7PM because my mind won’t stop racing. Some days, it’s hard to muster enough energy to take on a new patient phone call…and I love that part of my job. By the end of the week, I feel like I need a long bath with lavender candles and meditation music in the background or simply head to the nearest forest and scream at the top of my lungs.
Burdened can literally be taken as something being weighed down, heavy, or overloaded. Physically or emotionally, it can mean to be in distress, depressed, or going through a hardship. So what about mentally; spiritually even? The Lord does not say come to me when you are burdened with x, y, or z only…He states come ALL who are burdened and He will give you rest. Period. Drop the mic and walk out.
And it’s in this space, the moment of pure weariness or feeling burdened, where God asks for us to seek him. Psalms 23:2-3 begs our attention to God’s offer of rest: “In green pastures, he makes me lie down; to still waters he leads me; he restores my soul”.
My friends, if you are feeling weighed down with anything at all whether that be for an upcoming trip or simply your mind does not want to stop racing, I want to strongly encourage you to inhale a deep breathe and when you exhale, imagine God taking that burden off of your shoulders and onto His.
“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from His. Let us, therefore, make every effort to rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.“
Hebrews 4:9-11
What’s keeping you from resting with His glory?
Carve some time out this week to intentionally rest and meditate on His word. Plug in your headphones. Go on a walk by yourself. Book yourself a spa day. Firmly say no when plans come up that keep you from feeling recharged in His word.
Though the world might keep spinning, we can find comfort in His arms. And while life will keep buzzing around you, you are able to find rest in the one who quiets roaring waters; the one who makes you lie down in green pastures; the one who controls the soft breeze kissing your cheek.
It’s in Him where you find rest.
Simply Blooming Grace 