Wednesday,May 25, 2011

Find Rest In Jesus

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

-- Mark 6:31

Some days are just hard. The days become weeks. The weeks become months. And on and on it goes. No rest for the weary. No time off for the workers.

Everyone needs time off. Everyone needs to recharge. Everyone needs a time when they are not taking care of the needs of someone else but rather are resting mentally and physically from the demands of others. Jesus understood this. Sometimes I wonder why others seem to miss it.

I’ve heard all the flippant comments. But it’s not about being grateful. It’s not about time. It’s not even about memories and duty and necessity. It’s about fatigue, most days more mental than physical. It’s the constant demands and questions, the comments and attitude. It all requires patience most of us don’t have. And yet we must.

A couple of years ago a friend’s husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. During the months he remained at home, her life deteriorated substantially. She became his memory. She repeated things again and again. She loved him and it was her duty as his wife to care for him. Knowing that didn’t make the days any easier.

Another friend nursed her husband through the end stages of a brain tumor. Her children helped. Sitters filled in. And, yet, the burden was hers. Even a trip to the store for necessities left her guilt-ridden. What if something happened while she was gone? It didn’t matter that she never left with fewer than two people with him -- a sitter and a family member. She carried the heartache.

A neighbor recently took a bad fall. She keeps trying to do things she no longer can physically do. It’s upsetting her family, as you might imagine. I can relate. You try to help and the very people you are trying to help are working against you every step of the way. It’s frustrating and a cause for constant worry.

Dr. Karl Stegall talked Sunday about laying your burdens at God’s altar. Handing it all over to Jesus because, really, how can one human ever withstand the demands of life? We can’t. So we bend down and place the worries and concerns, the problems and heartaches, at His feet. Rest for our souls. Thank you Jesus.