“Get some rest.” Mark 6:31 NIV.
Brokenness is a high price to pay for busyness.
My thoughts and comments today are about “weary lives.”
People live such hectic, relentless lives, expecting, even requiring that whatever they want should be available whenever they want. As Gayle and I drove to the window of a fast food restaurant one afternoon, I saw their sign, “Now open 24 hours for your convenience.” With sarcasm, I said to my wife, “Imagine how empty our lives would seem if we could not come in the middle of the night.” Our health, marriages, and families are paying the price for lives that never know when to rest.
God made life with pace and rhythm, establishing the night and the day to “separate the light from the darkness,” and ordaining seasons and times. See Genesis 1:18. God both observed and commanded the principle of Sabbath, a day of rest to follow six days of industry and activity, as well as a Sabbath of years for the land, and a Sabbath of Sabbath years called Jubilee. God considered this fundamental principle of rest important enough to be included among the Ten Commandments, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11. Sabbath rest was not given as one suggestion alongside nine commandments.
You are the most productive and efficient when you find the rhythm for which you are best suited. The weariness and worry of life may be saying, “Get some rest.” The spiritual emptiness and personal discontent in your heart could be telling you, “Get some rest.” Emotional and health problems might be your body’s way of saying, “Get some rest.” Strained marriages can be a relationship that is saying, “Get some rest.”
Brokenness is a high price to pay for busyness, whether in businesses, bodies, or families. Jesus gathered His disciples, “Come apart and rest awhile . . for there were many coming and going and they had no time . .” Mark 6:30-31. No time; no rest. I would paraphrase His words this way: come apart before you fall apart. The warning is clear; the wisdom unmistakable. A person’s impatience, crankiness, and lack of appreciation for life often flow from the tiredness of a too busy life.
Wisdom schedules some downtime. Many of us are wound too tight; tension takes its toll. Take time every day to let your thoughts wander without restraint; that’s when fresh ideas and creativity thrive. Let yourself feel refreshed; that’s when you enjoy relationships. Let your spirit commune with its Creator; that’s when you replenish your soul and truly know God. See Psalm 46:10.
Jesus invitation still stands, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest . . you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV. In Jesus alone, you find Sabbath rest for a weary soul. “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength . . they shall run and not be weary.” See Isaiah 40:29-31 NKJV. When you make time for God first, you will have enough time for everything else for which you need time. “Only in returning to Me and waiting for Me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength.” Isaiah 30:15 NLT.
My prayer for you today is that you find time to be still and quiet of spirit.