Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you more to do! No. God calls us to Himself to give us rest. Lately I find myself napping more and consciously slowing down. There is an inner tiredness and a fatigue in my soul from life’s stresses manifesting itself in my body.
In a culture where we equate productivity with our self worth, this is hard to do. Life in the fast lanes is all we know and constant busyness robs us of every ounce of our energy. When you drive long distances and get tired, what do you do? We pull over to a rest area and close our eyes for a while so we will be able to continue without having an accident. Speeding through life has a reckless and dangerous effect.
My husband often calls me throughout the day to see how things are going at home. It’s his way of saying, “I’m thinking of you.” He will ask me how I am doing, and I’ll often give him a list of productive things I am accomplishing. This morning when he called me and asked what I was doing, I responded by telling him that I was resting. He called a second time, and I responded by telling him that I was face-booking. It was so hard for me to admit that I was resting and relaxing. I felt guilty. Why should guilt be associated with rest and relaxation?
Staying on the road of faith also requires slowing down. Jesus is at the rest stop. Running faster does not promote spiritual growth, but slowing our activity down positions us to notice Jesus at the rest stop. Meeting Him at the rest stop is coming to Him. He is waiting. My new goal – rest, rest, and more rest. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” The Bible
How can you consciously slow down, and what do you do to rest and relax? Let’s be counter-cultural and brag about how we can rest! I challenge you.
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