Sometimes You gotta rest!

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

There comes a time when you must stop holding everyone else above the water. You must take time to re-fuel yourself. Otherwise, you are sure to sink in the sea. God wants us to rest in Him and take time for our bodies and minds to rest. Our job as Christians is to pray for others. So pray is what I shall do. But, at least for now, I must stop at prayer. There is no way for me to hold others up if I cannot even stand up myself. So with that, I shall go rest. I encourage all who feel the need to always be strong for others to make sure you take the time to strengthen yourself. Otherwise, at some point you will run out of steam.

I used to think that this was a selfish thing to do, but then I realized that even Jesus took time (quite often, actually) to go off by himself away from His disciples to be strengthened by God. If He hadn't, He would not have had the strength to help others the way he did. Even when God finished created the world, He rested. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. (Gen 2:2-3)


Jesus even made sure that His disciples got plenty of rest after doing the work He had sent them to do; The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. (Mark 6:30-32)
In this verse, the word "rest" is translated from the Greek word "anapauo" which means "to be exempt." Jesus was telling them that at least for a time they could be exempt from the responsibilities of being a disciple. He was telling them to just stop and take some time for themselves.

So, although I definitely feel a burden to help others in their time of need, I recognize that I, myself have a time of need also. A time when I must depend on others for strength and a time when I must slow down on how much of myself I give to others in their time of need, and instead focus on my own. These are the times when I just gotta rest!!! I'll leave you with the words Jesus spoke to His disciples in Matthew 11:

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:29-30)


Good night and God bless!