Sometimes we can be in such a
hurry to get to a peaceful end, when we finally arrive there we are too worn
out to enjoy it. Then we get frustrated, even angry, that we cannot enjoy the
time of peace created—a vacation or respite from the strains of life. Sometimes
we let the chaos endure because we have no energy left to stop its vicious
momentum. Sometimes we just don’t have the energy left to battle with the fierce
gusts that batter against us, weathering our resilience. Sometimes it seems easier
to concede.
I have often come back to this
pattern of living, cursing the sense of sickening déjà vu that reminds me how
far I may have strayed from God’s designated rest. Having come to a point in
life where family and work and volunteer obligations all collide, and sometimes
it seems never-ending, I have run dangerously short on resources for sustaining
it all. A deadening fatigue ensues as deeper into the cesspool I seem to go.
But, of course, I, in my own
strength, have forgotten how to draw on the light and easy yoke of the Lord
Jesus:
“Come to me,
all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you
rest.”
~Matthew 11:28 (NRSV)
Finding Rest En
Route
Life is stressful. Anyone
pretending it isn’t is deluded. Nowhere in life do we get to escape into a
wonderland of peace with any sense of finality. We need a way of operating that
helps us enjoy the rest en route, each day.
Being conscious of our encroaching
fatigue is the critical thing. All we need do, then, is act on the suggestion
of God to find even a moment’s space; the more habitual our acceptance of rest,
the better.
The build-up of frustration, and
our propensity for anger, should be vital clues.
At recognition of these notes of
psychological dissonance God will invite us to use our logical mind to make an
important decision. Brought to the precipice God is pushing us to choose for
rest or choose to continue the madness in our own strength.
Finding rest en route is as simple
as choosing to obey God in our weakness; to draw upon divine strength is the
simple but courageous decision to simplify, focus and overcome. Jesus has
taught us the way.
***
Sometimes we can be in such a
hurry to get to a peaceful end, when we finally arrive there we are too worn
out to enjoy it. It’s better to find rest every day along the way; rest for the
weary and burdened—Christ’s strength for our weakness.
© 2012 S. J. Wickham.
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