Last weekend I had the joy of filling for my dad in the pulpit at our church. I’ve done this once before, but it was many, many years ago. Like, before Rowyn was born, I think…so yeah. It’s been a while, LOL. But I’d just been thinking, a day or two before he asked me, that I wanted to start expanding my speaking repertoire–you know, so that it included something other than my publishing story. 😉
As I prayed about what to talk about, my mind kept going back to the topic of vacation. Summer is finally upon us, so
vacation is a topic on a lot of different minds, right? When can we go? Where
will we go? How long can we stay? How much will it cost? What do I have to do
to prepare? For a lot of us, vacation isn’t about rest, it’s about doing—preparing to go, preparing to
travel, preparing for each day while we’re there, preparing to get it all home,
and then preparing to get back to normal life.
I can’t tell you how many
times I’ve heard someone say that they need a vacation from their vacation!
Personally, David and I have
made it a point to make our vacations restful. We don’t do much planning, and
the most exciting thing on our agendas is usually to visit a museum or go out
to dinner. Otherwise, we’re relaxing. Resting. Rejuvenating our minds and
spirits.
This is a necessary process. Studied have shown that having a break from work actually makes a worker more productive. And God himself recognized this. In the Law of Moses, we’ve seen how
the Lord gave very specific instructions on rest. We have the Sabbath laws. The
Sabbath year laws. The Feasts and festivals. All of these are meant to be times
when man takes a break from the grind of daily life.
But they’re something else
too, aren’t they? They’re also meant to be times when we take a break from
normal life…to worship and praise Him.
Let’s look at Matthew
11, specifically at the well known verses 28-30:
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am
gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My
burden is light.”
Jesus isn’t just talking here
about a physical rest, right? He’s talking about rest for our souls.
I want to share another
translation, this time from 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.”
A friend of mine claims this
as her favorite verse, so I’ve read it quite a few times. I like how in
addition to the words “tired” and “worn out” he also speaks to that spiritual
exhaustion—“burned out on religion.” Not on faith, but on religion. On the traditions, the processes, the expectations, the
demands. Those can be so exhausting. They, like our jobs, are doing. And sometimes we need a rest from
that in the worst way.
I also love the insight into
how we’re going to find that, which is kinda an extrapolation of “Come to Me”
and “take my yoke upon you and learn from me.”
“Get away with me. Walk with
me. Work with me. Watch how I do it.”
Wait—maybe this is a bad
example after all. What does he say here? Work
with me.
Well that doesn’t fit the
idea of vacation at all!
But that’s just the Message.
If we go back to the New King James, we don’t see that in there, right? It just
says “take my yoke upon you.” Well…that doesn’t use the word work, to be sure. But what’s a yoke?
It’s something we put on animals…so they can work.
Hm.
And it goes on with “learn
from Me.” Okay, so let’s learn from Jesus. We see him doing plenty of things.
Certainly, among them are traveling to observe the holy days—holidays. But even
then, what is he doing? Healing the sick. Cleansing the lepers. Casting out
demons. Preaching. Teaching.
Working—but not toiling at a
9-5. He’s doing the Father’s work.
So then…is doing the
Father’s work…rest?
That’s quite a thought,
isn’t it?
Though to be sure, even Jesus had to get away from the crowds. Away from
that hands-on work. In those times, we see Him slipping away to pray. To
commune with the Father.
As matters of faith often do, this idea of going to Him for our rejuvenation reminds me of my kids.
you know what they do? They come to me. When they’re hungry…they come to me.
When they’ve accomplished something they’re proud of…they come to me. When
they’re hurt…they come to me. When they’re upset…they come to me. When they’re excited…they come to me. When they’re
worried…they come to me. When they’re tired…they come to me.
even though I can’t often do
anything, it doesn’t matter. All they want is to know that Mama’s there. They
want to curl up in my lap and be my baby. They want to be surrounded by my
love. And after a few minutes, they’re refreshed. They’re ready to put aside the
exhaustion or the scrape or bruise, the argument or the anger. They’re ready to
go back to their game or their project or their work.
“Blessed Lord, let me climb
up near to Thee, and love, and long, and plead, and wrestle with Thee, and pant
for deliverance from the body of sin, for my heart is wandering and lifeless,
and my soul mourns to think it should ever lose sight of its beloved. Wrap my
life in divine love, and keep me ever desiring Thee, always humble and resigned
to Thy will, more fixed on Thyself, that I may be more fitted for doing and
suffering.”
offers. But we don’t get it by going away. We don’t get it by stopping what
we’re doing. We don’t get it by focusing on us.
By crawling up into our Father’s lap. By letting the Spirit act through us.
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.