Running on empty?

Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Psalm 62:5

Jesus said, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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 11:28-30

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all that 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”. Mark 6:30-31

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God. Hebrews 4:9

“Yes, I’m pretty much running on empty”. So said a drained, exhausted fellow-pastor to me.

It’s a good image, isn’t it? My first car was an elderly Volkswagen Beetle, and I well remember that sinking feeling, when still a new driver, as the needle on the petrol gauge got closer and closer to the red zone, and the anxiety in my mind grew: Would I make it to a petrol-station? And what would I do if I didn’t (which is sometimes what happened)?

Of course, you don’t need to be a burned-out pastor to feel this way. You may be a worker with an over-demanding boss, or a parent with lively children, or a victim of unexpected and all-consuming circumstances. Indeed, you may be a church-member who has been carrying a responsibility, alongside your secular and family responsibilities, for longer than is wise.

Whatever, you need a rest!

I’ve put together a group of Bible verses with “rest” as their theme. Together, they can help us to look with confidence to God – the God who himself “rested from all his work” (Genesis 2:3) and who commanded his people to observe a weekly day of “sabbath-rest” (Exodus 20:8-11).

Psalm 62 begins with a word of testimony: “Truly my soul finds rest in God” (verse 1) – it seems he can look on this as a real experience in his life. But the thought is then repeated in verse 5 as a command to himself: “Yes… find rest in God”. Finding rest in God is clearly not a once-for-all thing.

The psalmist is going through a tough time: he sees himself as “this leaning wall, this tottering fence” (that’s quite a self-description!), as he suffers at the hands of his enemies; but he affirms his faith in God as his “rock, salvation and fortress” (verse 6).

 As we soak up those powerful words, may we also be able to affirm with him, “I shall not be shaken”.

Matthew 11:28-30 gives us one of the greatest, most comforting promises Jesus ever made, directly addressed to “all you who are weary and burdened”. He describes his “yoke” as “easy” and his ”burden” as “light”. That may seem a flat contradiction of his command elsewhere to “take up your cross and follow me” - the cross easy? the cross light!

But the background makes sense of it. Jesus has in mind the religion of the scribes and Pharisees, who saw their duty as being to pile heavy burdens on both themselves and others (Matthew 23:1-5). In comparison with that crushing kind of religiosity, the cross is indeed a privilege. So Jesus’ slightly surprising words warn us of the many types of present-day religion, whether Christian or otherwise, which boil down to duty-upon-duty, burden-upon-burden.

If we feel in need of rest today, let’s not be ashamed to unbuckle and throw off some of those burdens which we may originally have taken on with pleasure, but which have come to be more like a crippling weight. Let’s directly ask ourselves if we have lost the skill of enjoying our walk with Jesus and our relationship with God.

Mark 6: 30-31 is a delight: Jesus invites his disciples to take a break and enjoy a bit of peace and quiet: “Come with me to a quiet place and get some rest”. Beautiful!

But easier said than done, perhaps. What if our circumstances are sheer unremitting grind, from which no release is possible? – caring, perhaps, for a sick loved one, or coping with an obligation which, with the best will in the world, we simply cannot shrug off?

Under such circumstances, we can only cry out to God to supply our energy and needs on a day-by-day – indeed, on a minute-by-minute -  basis.

But Jesus’ invitation to his disciples is a reminder that his claims upon us are not a call to take leave of plain common sense: we need rest! we need relaxation! we need holidays! Martyrdom is, sadly, the lot of some; but let’s not martyr ourselves, perhaps out of a sense of spiritual pride or a false notion of needing to win favour with our Father God. The sabbath principle is intended as a gift for our enjoyment: well, let’s enjoy it then, insofar as we are able.

Seriously, Christian, is it time you took a break?

Hebrews 4:9 is a good rounding-off verse for this theme. Rest is apparently not a matter for this life only, for “there remains a sabbath-rest for the people of God”. The New Testament uses rest as a metaphor for heaven itself.

If we take the closing chapters of Revelation seriously, we see that it is anything but a lazing-around-doing-nothing kind of rest; on the contrary, it is all about delighting in God in all his holiness, all about perfection, joy and beauty, total fulfilment.

Some of us perhaps don’t find it easy to look forward to heaven, because we, the fortunate ones, find this earth quite enjoyable, thank you very much. But a day will come when that will change... And for the many whose way is specially hard – the over-burdened, those in pain or sorrow, the troubled and hurt, the victims of cruelty, injustice  or oppression – this is the hope to cling to.

Something better – infinitely better, indescribably better – awaits us. Hang on in there! Enjoy what rest you can, of course; but never doubt… it’s only a matter of time.

Father God, my loving Lord and my caring Shepherd, please help me to learn the art of finding rest in you. And hear my prayer today for all those for whom there seems to be no rest. Amen.