When I stop and really think about the responsibilities of parenting, I can feel a bit overwhelmed. When I stop to think about all that it entails and what I am supposed to be teaching my children so they become God fearing children, I realize the task is quite daunting. Add to this my growing responsibilities in church leadership and other roles, and I can feel like I am running after instead of leading my life. I hate this feeling. It is exhausting. Sometimes there is the temptation to shut down and do nothing at all. Although, I do need times of rest and recovery to stay healthy and sane, I have realized that it is just a season in my life that I must push through. Recently, God has shown me some cool things in my daily quiet times that have helped me and encouraged me through this time in my life.
(1) God will get us to the other side. The Daily Walk Bible puts it this way when talking about the instance when the disciples are on a boat in a storm and Jesus is sleeping. “After pushing away from the shore, Jesus fell asleep…just as a storm exploded in full fury. Twelve frightened men rushed to the Savior and exclaimed in unison, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38). Now go back and reread verse 35. What was it Christ had said to his disciples just before entering the boat? “Let us go to the middle of the lake and drown”? Of course not! “Let us go over to the other side.” …Remember, Christ intends to take you to the other side safe and secure and not let you drown.”
For me, this indicates that no matter how stormy the sea may seem, if it is what He has called me to, then He will get me through it and to the other side. In fact, if I ask him, He may even calm things down.
(2) God’s rest may be different than we think. I was reading about another instance of the disciples on the water. They had just finished ministering to the surrounding areas in groups of twos- healing the sick, teaching and driving out evil spirits. They came back to Jesus and were exhausted. They didn’t even get to eat because of the large group of followers that had surrounded them. Jesus said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” (Mark 6:31) Then they get in a boat and try to go to a solitary place and behold there is a huge group and Jesus has compassion on them. So he teaches them and then performs the “feeding of 5000” miracle. Some rest the disciples got!!! They just got back from exhausting trips and now they are serving food to over 5000 people!! So, I asked myself, did they ever find rest? I am not sure I have the answer. But three things struck me while meditating on it. One, their rest could have been the quiet time just with Jesus on the boat. Sometimes that is all we need to field the next big thing in life. Even if we just get a quiet moment for a quick prayer, a small earful of an encouraging song, a memory verse come to mind at the time when we desperately need it, it is amazing how uplifted and “rested” we can feel. Two, perhaps they found some rest in the fact that they were simply following Jesus and not leading and making decisions like they had been. Isn’t it fascinating that when we follow God it can free us up from so many stresses and worries and it can seem like rest? Lastly, it reminded me that we have limited time here on earth and we need to continue to work hard at having compassion and building Christ’s kingdom. Just when they thought they were going to have a break, they ended up serving (a TON of people-try being a waiter for over 500 people!). They followed God’s plan, not their nap schedules. Their spirits were willing, but their bodies were weak (Matthew 26:41). However, the disciples followed His command obediently and pushed on.
For me, this means that God will provide the rest I need, but that may not necessarily be the rest my human body wants. I need to keep following Him and pressing on so I can maximize the relatively small time I have here on earth (when compared to eternity). For me it brings a new depth to the Romans 12:1 verse, “…offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God” and to I Corinthians 9:27, “No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
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