“A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, and must empty ourselves. Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in his love than in your weakness.” - Mother Theresa
Too many times this summer I have expected situational rest to give me what only God himself was able to provide. “That upcoming vacation, that’ll fix this soul wrenching exhaustion.” “Once the kids go back to school, that’ll fix it all.” “Well once this situation changes, then I’ll finally be happy!”
I roll my car into the garage. It’s back seats are caked with McDonalds wrappers, sticky gummies I threw back there to keep 4 kids quiet and way too many toys! It looks like a bomb went off and the second I put the car in park, it’s time to get to work. The, get on your hands and knees and sweat until you almost pass out because it’s 100 degrees outside, kind of work. While I am knee deep in the dumpster (cough) I mean, the car… the kids will tornado through the house. I make my way from the garage after a few hours of labor on the car and then move from one room to the next, my eyes scanning and filing all the things that need attention. After it’s finally quiet in the house, each kid was fed (somehow) bathed (not sure soap was even used) and then tucked into bed (with the fastest prayer God ever heard) I lay my head on the pillow and long for that feeling I felt while lounging at the pool with my drink in one hand and a good book in the other. The kids giggled and played endlessly in the pool and my body soaked up every sun ray. This reality is now a day dream and it’s refreshment disappeared the moment I turned onto my street to come home! My shoulders took their normal place back in the tense position and my hair made its way up, rather quickly, into the highest, messiest bun possible. Tiredness hit my eyes and before I knew it, I was right back onto the hamster wheel of life.
You see, the moment I rolled into the driveway all of the rest I once clung to, is unfelt and a heavy weight is replaced on my shoulders. There is always much work waiting for you back in reality and it’ll pile up like the laundry, that won’t see the light of day for weeks as you catch up on all the things! So where the heck is the hope and the change? I need a change because if a 4 day getaway can’t give me rest that lasts past pulling into my driveway, I am doomed! How is it that I just spent way too much money on deli sandwiches at the Hyatt pool and lounged for 4 days but my soul tiredness is too quickly right back where it was?
I don’t know about you, but too often I look forward to an experience or a situation change to fulfill what only God alone can do. Are we called to rest, yes! Are vacations bad, absolutely not! Should we believe the lie that rest is only found in an earthly comfort, no! Do we truly believe that even if given a prison cell like Paul the apostle and not a 4 day weekend getaway, we could experience the renewing of life burnout and exhaustion?
““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 11:28-30 MSG
Matthew 11 promises that a “get away” with Christ alone frees you from the burdens this world effortlessly places on your shoulders, rest and renewal is possible!
What does a “get away” with Christ look like? Well for some, you may have the freedom to give Christ a day off of work and be with him at a beach. Just you and Him, hand in hand. God will meet you there and the beach is the icing on the cake, who doesn’t love icing? For others, days away are only a dream and your reality will only give you a few minutes while you are hiding in the car from your kids. To you, believe that God sees you and has the power to perform Matthew 11 over your soul just as much as the entire day “getaway” gal!
God doesn’t need the right vacation to renew your soul and fill you with rest, he just needs your heart!
You see, as we prepare to run the marathon of the pandemic, of school starting, of schedules constantly changing and the weight of the world feels a bit heavier, emptying ourselves comes with a great cost. May we more so prepare with intentionality our time with the Lord. Where situation, time and place doesn’t stop us from believing in abiding in the Father.
Weekend getaways are intentionally scheduled around the thought of, “What can it do for me?” Where as, a getaway with the Father should be pursued with relational intentionality.