“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
I am almost embarrassed to write this week’s blog. It has been quite the week and weekend of ministry, and quite frankly, I am so tired that I almost forgot to write my Monday morning blog. So much for teaching on busyness.
Ruth Haley Barton wrote the book, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership and addresses this topic of busyness. She quotes Dr. Richard Swenson, author of his book, Margin:
When you reach the limits of your resources or abilities, you have no margin left. Yet because we don’t even know what margin is, we don’t realize it is gone. We know that something is not right because we can’t solve the puzzle beyond that. Our pain is palpable, but our assailant remains unnamed.
She then goes on to listen some of the symptoms/indicators of busyness. See if you can relate:
- Irritability or hypersensitivity. Things that normally wouldn’t bother us (such as a child’s mistake, another driving cutting us off in traffic or a coworker’s irritating habit) puts us over the edge.
I shudder to think HOW many times I have reacted vs. responded to my life and kids and my staff when I have been tired and running on empty.
- Restlessness. Have you ever been so tired that when you finally sit down to “crash” your mind is on overload that you can’t relax? Maybe like me this weekend, I was so tired that I couldn’t turn my brain off to even fall asleep. I seem to battle “restless leg syndrome” during these times.
- Compulsive overworking. “Overwork is this decade’s cocaine, the problem without a name,” says Bryan Robinson…. 25 percent of Americans have this addiction. “Workaholism is an obsessive-compulsive disorder … that manifests itself through self-imposed demands, and inability to regular work habits, and an overindulgence in work—to the exclusion of most other life activities.” … We might find that we are unable to stop or slow down even we that would be appropriate—like at night after dinner or on vacation. A compulsive leader is one who—for some reason that he or she cannot quite name—has no boundaries on work, checks e-mail late into the evening, and is unable to unplug completely to go on vacation, to enter into solitude or to spend uninterrupted time with family.
Ouch! That is really a picture of my life at times. That one really hurts.
Is this the life that Jesus really intends for us to live? Sometimes, negative things in our lives almost become badges for our identity.
I have a friend who is late for EVERY single meeting in his life—people in these meetings that so and so will be late for their own funeral. Ironically, I believe deep down that he believes that by being late, people think he must be really busy.
If I am not careful, my lack of margin can be prideful – if I am working ALL these hours, it will demonstrate how important I am. The world can’t function without me.
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: “The reason we live in a culture increasingly without faith is not because science has somehow disproved the unprovable, but because the white noise of secularism has removed the very stillness in which it might endure or be reborn….” – John Mark Comer
The Daily Bible Reading: 1 Kings 16-18; John 1:29-51| You can download our 2022 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here.
