“Come apart . . and rest a while.” Mark 6:31 KJV
“We work but seldom rest, and wonder why the deep tiredness of body and soul.“
My thoughts today counsel you to “come apart.”
What is the fascination that we find with crowds, and noise, and rushing? Silence and solitary seem to make people uncomfortable. If life isn’t surrounded with noise, they have to create some. If they are not with someone all the time, they don’t know what to do with themselves. If they aren’t in a hurry, they feel like they are wasting time and missing opportunity. Are you ever like that? For the long run, that is not a healthy and happy lifestyle.
It would seem that Jesus’ advice to such people is simple, “Come apart, before you come apart.” And there are too many people whose lives are doing just that – coming apart. Why are there a growing number of breakdowns – physically, emotionally, relationally, psychologically, and most importantly, spiritually? Your health suffers; your marriage struggles; your nerves are strained; moral breakdowns occur; spiritual emptiness is the rule.
Life requires an occasional time when you come aside from rush and routine and collect your soul – attend to your inner life. The Bible calls that the principle of sabbath, working and resting from work, being productive and being reflective. Imagine God creating the world and all that is in it, then on the seventh day sitting and surveying with satisfaction, “God saw all He had made and it was very good . . finished the work . . He rested from all the work He had done!” Genesis 1:31-2:3 NIV. We work but seldom rest, and wonder why the deep tiredness of body and soul. Have you taken time to enjoy?
People have more, but never enough. Life was never meant to be relentless. The Creator made life with rhythm – the shifting seasons, day and night, the incoming and outgoing tides, sleeping and waking. “To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under the sun . . and God has made everything beautiful in His time.“ Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 NKJV. Is your life out of synch with God’s?
People reduce life to some level of sameness, to lower any highs and lift the lows, to reduce life to its mean average. Then those same people wonder why life is not fulfilling or exciting to them. Always a pace that never slows; continually seeking a crowd while never content alone; filling every unwelcome moment of quiet with TVs, cell phones, Blackberries, IPods and IPhones – staying connected, constantly working, living large but not staying satisfied. Reachable to others all day every day, but hearts not touched by God or much else.
Peter recalls those kinds of days, both exciting and exhausting. “There were so many coming and going that Jesus and the disciples didn’t even have time to eat.” Mark 6:31 TEV. Life can easily get out of hand. When schedules dominate, life blurs. The Bible tells you how life was made to work.
I can almost hear some weary soul saying, “Is there an answer to this dilemma?. . tell me already.” God’s Word is always the best place to begin. Hear Jesus’ invitation, “Come unto Me – all you who are weary and heavy burdened . . find rest for your soul.” Matthew 11:28-30. Jesus doesn’t complicate life. He simply invites, “Come follow Me.” Can it be that simple? Lost your way? Follow Me. Afraid to be alone? I will be with you. Not hearing as you should? Listen to Jesus more closely.
My prayer for you today is: find life’s pace; there you find peace for your soul.