I have been reminded of this post quite often lately, so I thought that I would re-post it. This was the first real post on my blog~ back in January 2008. I hope it encourages you as much as it does me. Also linking up with Thought Provoking Thursday over at somegirlswebsite.
I have a mountain of laundry and a sink full of dishes that need my attention. It makes me tired just to look at it all. The thought of it makes my mind turn to rest. Can anyone relate? I think we could all stand a rest- a sabbath- now and then.
Instead of running to the aid of my mountain of laundry, I began to ponder Jesus' words in Matthew 11:28-30.
28Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
I love to study the meanings of the words in the original Greek or Hebrew, and so I got out my trusty Strong's Concordance. I looked up the meaning of the word "rest." It surprised me to find two different words used for "rest" in this passage. One of the words means "to offer quiet, refreshment, recreation." That's sounds great, huh? The other word means "inward tranquility while one performs necessary labor." How's that?
Let's insert the meanings into our passage and try to understand more about what Jesus was saying.
28Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (offer of quiet, refreshment, recreation). 29Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (inward tranquility while one performs necessary labor) for your souls. 30For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
If I'm understanding this right, Jesus is offering us something far deeper than "rest." When we are weary, He offers us rest- recreation, refreshment. When we accept it and take on His yoke (His way of doing things) , we will find rest for our souls- an inward tranquility as we go on about our necessary labors.
Take a minute and let that sink in…
 |
| photo credit: bookgrl |
As a mother of many, there is always more to be done. More laundry. More dishes. More cooking. More cleaning. There is never a time when a mother feels she can just stop and rest~ that refreshing, quiet, tranquility we all desire. But Jesus is offering me that same tranquility as I go on about my necessary labors. I just need to take on His yoke. I need to ask Him how to order my days and then follow His plan. Sounds easy, doesn't it?
We live in a maze of stress and busyness. Eventually, the stress affects us our physical bodies. I have read that this can bring on what is known as "tired adrenals." Well, the remedies for these physical problems are things like rest, relaxation, and creative outlets. It is fascinating to me that in our modern world of medicine and technology, Jesus still has one up on us! The mind and body and spirit are so entwined. Stress affects the body and makes it sick, but still the remedy is to feed the spirit. Jesus gave us the answer so long ago. He is gentle and mild. He is humble in heart. He will give us refreshment as we go about our necessary work. (Make sure you hear that "necessary" in there!)
As we mothers feed and care for our families, if we will take on His yoke, He will give us rest for our souls. Is this a new sabbath that Jesus brought to us? A sabbath that is set on the soul, and not just on the body~ the spirit and not merely flesh?
I'll take Jesus at His Word. Laundry is necessary (at least at my house), and mine is calling my name. Let's see if I can find Jesus' rest while I wash this mountain of laundry…
Connie
Thank you for this post Connie! Fantastic… and it reminds me of a recent post from a friend of mine with a quote from an author that had me reflecting on it for quite a while as well
"…Me Time is a myth. It is an unattainable, always interruptable, never satisfying piece of junk psychology. Me Time, by its very name, suggests that who we are during the daily grind is not who we truly are. It begs us to search for fulfillment outside of the titles of “wife” and “mother.” It accuses precious little ones and God-given spouses for suppressing us. It reduces motherhood to a disease in which little dirty faces and endless monotonous tasks slowly suck the life out of us. It says we can never be refreshed by spending time in the presence of those we care for day in and day out. It points out a perceived hole in our world that needs to be filled, a tank that must be refueled, a monster that will swallow us if we neglect to feed it… Me Time.”
Quote from Amy Roberts
Thanks, Debbie. That is a good quote. Would you happen to have a link to link back to her post?
There is definitely a balance for mommas to achieve between being refreshed by our little ones and by getting quiet time alone for refreshment. Most of the time we do need to renew our minds in the midst of our day, but we need to be mindful of when to seek out some solace to meet with God or engage in something creative. We need to know where our limits are at in order to guard our health while at the same time guarding against selfishness.
If we only had giant cue cards telling us what to do every hour…Wouldn't that be great?
Ahhh…yes, I feel like a need to be refreshed & led by the gentle shepherd…
Thanks for linking up and nice to "meet" you too!