It has been months since I have posted anything new to The Worn Tile Floor. Last August (2011), I officially graduated
with a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Bethel Seminary in Saint
Paul, MN. At the same time, I was
learning how to be the father of my now-eight-month-old son, Isaac. As I was moving on from the grueling burden
that seminary had become, I found that new, even more challenging
responsibilities were rising up in its place.
Instead of doing homework, I was doing diapers. Instead of reading scripture, I read Seuss. Instead of books, I had baby.
Apparently there would be no break after graduating from
seminary. So I took a break from
writing.
You’ve been there.
You’ve been in that place where you feel stretched to the point of
breaking. And, perhaps like me, you feel
like you haven’t found rest in years. Just
as you think you might get relief, something new, something even bigger rises
up to keep you toiling harder than ever.
It becomes exhausting and defeating.
Your life begins to look like a line at a busy amusement
park. If you’ve ever slowly slithered
forward in an endless line at one of these parks, you know the fatigue that
comes from feeling like you are stuck in place.
If you had been able to see the whole line before you’d committed to
waiting there, you probably would have thought twice before slogging through an
hour of your time just to enjoy two minutes of loop-de-loops.
But at the biggest parks, you never see the whole line at
once. As you creep forward in line,
seeing it grow shorter and shorter in front of you, you start to think to
yourself, This isn’t so bad . . . I’m
almost there! And then you turn a
corner—and see row after row after row of people waiting in line ahead of
you. Uggh.
Of course, you’ve already waited for ten minutes. You’d hate to back out now when the goal is
only another fifteen minutes away (or so you think—until you round another corner).
Just as the amusement park line never seems to end, so the
stresses of your life never seem to let up.
Just when you think you will have a break from the stress or from the
drudgery, you turn a corner, and find a whole new set of troubles to weigh you
down. And when you finally do get that
break you desire, it often may seem more like a two-minute thrill than a true
rest.
For most of us, our two-minute thrills find us seeking
entertainment rather than seeking life.
We end up spending our time
rather than using it. And then the moment is gone and the busy
routine begins again.
And we never find rest.
That is one reason that it is truly refreshing to be a
Christ-follower. Jesus says, “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” (Matt. 11:28-30).
Just as we find that we have more energy after we exercise
(as counter intuitive as it may seem), so we find that as we take more of
Jesus’ yoke upon ourselves, our loads actually become lighter.
Only through Christ do our two-minute loop-de-loops become refreshing
rather than just distracting. And only
in Christ do our times of waiting become times of rest instead of just times of
standing.
All who are weary: Seek rest. And find it in Christ.
