“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:28-29 CSB
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Matthew 11:28-29 The Message
Good morning on the Monday of a brand new week of Freedom Fighter blogs.
Last week I shared some symptoms of busyness that Ruth Haley Barton wrote in her book, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership.
Here are several more of the symptoms she shared:
Emotional numbness. When we are pushing our limit, we may notice that we can’t feel anything—good or bad. It takes energy to experience and process a full range of human emotion. When we are “at capacity” we literally do not have the energy to engage the full range of human experience, including our emotions. In addition, we might be afraid that if we did stop and experience our emotions we would be overwhelmed, and who has time for that?
We men sometimes use work and activity so that we can stuff and bury our feeling and pain. If we keep DOING then we won’t have to deal with the hurt and difficulties. Stopping the craziness opens the path for us to think clearly and deal with the issues. Silence is good, but for most of us, it is scary. It’s ok.
Escapist behaviors. When we do have a break in the action, we might notice that increasingly we are succumbing to escapist behaviors (such as compulsive eating, drinking or other substance abuse, spending, television, pornography, surfing the Internet) and don’t have the energy to choose activities that are life-giving (such as exercising, going for a walk or bike ride, connecting meaningfully with friends and family, enjoying a hobby or interest like playing an instrument, cooking, painting, drawing, writing poetry, playing sports, working with our hands, reading a good book). This becomes a vicious cycle, because escapist behaviors actually drain energy from us—energy that we could use to make life-giving choices—and then we just get more and more lethargic.
We deal with this every day at the Colony of Mercy and Barbara’s Place. It would be easy for us to say, but I am not in the Colony, and that’s their problem? Really? If we are honest with each other, we can all relate to this symptom. The difference is that the men in the Colony have named and identified their issues. We are really good at covering up our stuff. I have learned in twenty-five years I am a Colony man. Freedom comes when I can get real and take my issues to the Cross.
Disconnected from our identity and calling. More and more we find ourselves going through the motions of doing ministry but disconnected from a true sense of who we are and what God is calling us to do. Increasingly, we find that we are at the mercy of other people’s expectations and our own inner compulsions because we lack an internal plumb line against which to measure these demands.
Whether we are in ministry or not, we can easily be disconnected from our identity and calling in life. Sometimes we need to be able to say “NO” to the demands that people put on us, or the demands we put on ourselves because we can’t say “NO.” No is a complete sentence. I have had the ask the Lord to help me stop saying “YES” to everything and “NO” to more and more things so that there is more margin in my life.
I need to burn the verses from the lips of Jesus into my mind and heart:
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Matthew 11:28-29 The Message (Please forgive me … I know Jesus actually spoke in the King James!)
We’ll look at a couple more indicators next week. I’d love to hear from you.
Write me at bwelte@americaskeswick.org.
Undivided: By Christ, in Christ, For Christ,
Bill Welte
President/CEO
America’s Keswick
Email me: bwelte@americaskeswick.org
Written by Bill Welte, President/CEO of America’s Keswick: Bill has been married to his childhood sweetheart for 40+ years and has four married kids and 12 amazing grandkids. He loves music and is an avid reader.
Think About This: “Sabbath is more than just a day; it’s a way of being in the world.” ―
The Daily Bible Reading: 2 Kings 15-17; John 6:1-21| You can download our 2022 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here.
