Rest for the weary

It seems like there is an epidemic in the world today of weariness. No matter how hard we try, the rest that we get each night does not ever seem to be enough. I know that is true in our household; there are far more things that need to be done than the time that is available for doing them. The same thing happens at work. There's a sign I saw growing up that I understand so much more now than I did then: the hurrieder I go, the behinder I get. No matter how fast I go, how hard I work, how late I stay up, I never quite seem to catch up. The tyranny of the urgent drives life too much of the time.

Sometimes we need to simply stop, take a deep breath, and rest. It is counterintuitive to do that; there is so much that needs to be done, that demands our attention and time, how can we possibly take time out to rest? Yet the truth is, we need rest in order to function at our best. When I was younger, I could get away with ignoring my body's demand for rest. In college, I would stay out late on a Sunday night hanging out with friends and still managed to make it to class early on Monday morning, week after week. During finals, it was not unusual to stay up all night cramming for class, sometimes two or three nights in a row. These days, one or two nights of going without a full night of sleep leaves me weary for several days. Eventually I have to give in and get some extended rest to begin to feel reasonably refreshed again.

Sometimes it takes getting away from everything for a few days to find rest. That is what vacations are for, to step away from all the pressures of life and get some rest. I don't know about you, but even vacation can be too full and hurried instead of a time of refreshing. We only have X number of days to go, do, see everything on vacation, so instead of resting and getting refreshed, we try to conquer our vacation like we do everything else in life and miss out on the opportunity to finally slow down and rest.

There is a deeper level of weariness that can affect us than just the physical sort as well, though. When we are struggling with a difficult situation, whether it's something with our health, our relationships, our finances, or something else that troubles us deeply, there is a weariness of soul that sets in. That kind of weariness does not go away with a few good nights of sleep, and often the things that are causing it are outside of our control. How do we find rest and refreshing for that?

There is only one place that I know to go for rest at that level, and that is Jesus. He promised to give that: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matthew 11:28-29) When we are so weary from the things that weigh us down, Jesus can give us the rest that we need. If we will ask him, he will bring the real refreshing that we desire even though we may not see anything change in our circumstances. He gives rest for the weary in soul.  

June 1, 2008