Have you been involved in a movement and felt the need to leave it? Was it simply that you needed a break? Were you in need of rest? Does that happen to you in your workplace? Has it happened with a ministry you were involved in? How did you handle it?
We can be involved in a variety of movements. They may be social organizations. They may be justice related movements. They may be ministries in our church. They may be large projects in our workplaces. We can get to a point of exhaustion or burnout, needing a break.
Jesus was certainly involved in a movement. In fact, He was leading the movement. He was bringing God’s message to God’s chosen people. His first priority was to clarify and explain God’s meaning behind commandments and guidance given to the Israelites during the previous couple thousand years. Changing people’s minds, changing their viewpoints, perspectives, and understanding can be time consuming and exhausting. Jesus needed to step away from the crowd for a short period of time to get some rest.
We, too, need to step away at times to get some rest. Unfortunately, our culture has equated stepping away from those situations to taking a family vacation, which does not always result in rest. We joke that we need a vacation from the vacation, because we have packed so many activities into our vacation that we are worn out from them.
When Jesus stepped away from His ministry for a few days, He didn’t go do other activities. No, He rested. We also need to plan time to step away and rest. We need the down time to be rejuvenated. Our strength does not return to us while we are active. Our minds do not renew when we are juggling schedules. For those to happen, we need both physical rest and mental rest. The best rest we can achieve comes from spending quiet time with God.
I pray we all recognize our need for rest. I pray we purposely plan down time to rest physically and mentally. I pray each one of us spend quiet time with God to be renewed and rejuvenated. Know that you need rest. Plan down time. Spend quiet time with God. Be renewed. Be rejuvenated.
Mark 4:35-36 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him.
Marty Pressey 