Take Time to Rest

Even looking at the church building last night made me want to take a nap!

Inside, children ran back and forth, wildly yelling and laughing. They sang songs, danced, played games, made crafts, and learned Bible stories. It’s V-“Bee”-S week at MCC. We are truly “Alive in the Hive!” Also inside, the Board of Elders met in the only available space: my office. They didn’t get done until well after 11:00PM.

Outside, construction workers kept laying brick upon brick, building our new Christian education wing. Heavy equipment and supplies crowd our parking lot.

Beyond the walls and property line of our church facilities, our members actively email, Facebook, and text message to encourage and care for one another. They are grieving the loss of dearly loved ones and bearing other weighty burdens. They are rejoicing in the birth of a baby (we’ve had two born this week!). In each of these, they’re standing together, shoulder to shoulder in love and peace.

Yes, there is a lot going on! It’s a blessing, but – if we’re not careful – exhausting.

This morning, I reflected on Christ’s words in Matthew 6:34: “"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." In another place, he says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

For me and maybe you as well, these are simply amazing words. In effect, Jesus tells his disciples, “Relax, rest, chill.”

Isn’t that stunning? Isn’t that about the last thing anyone would expect God to say? Frankly, don’t these seem more like the rambling words of a stoned hippie than the Savior of the World? Amazingly though: they’re the words of God, not a guy living out of a VW bus.

Now, I could get into all the reasons that Christ says these words, but I don’t want to. I just want to marvel in the fact that he said them at all! What God takes burdens rather than heaping them upon his followers? Only one: Jesus.

Maybe you needed to hear that today. Maybe it’s time for you to return to Christ in prayer, turning your anxieties and heavy burdens over to him. Maybe it’s time for you to find comfort and rest in the arms of Christ’s body, the Church. Our hectic world may not give you permission , but that’s fine; it’s Creator, Sustainer, and Master does.

Take time to rest, child – rest.