"Come...and rest a while"

In his book The Life You've Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People, John Ortberg observes, "We suffer from what has come to be known as 'hurry sickness'," a condition Meyer Friedman defines as "above all, a continuous struggle and unremitting attempt to accomplish or achieve more and more things or participate in more and more events in less and less time, frequently in the face of opposition, real or imagined, from other persons." Ortberg goes on to note that "hurry will keep us consumed by the 'cares and riches and pleasures of life,' as Jesus put it, and prevent His way from taking root in our hearts."

Our society is one steeped in hurriedness. We have become experts at justifying our being busy and hurrying all the time.  Too busy for the people we love and care about, too busy to take time for ourselves, too busy for God outside of the obligatory two hours on a Sunday morning, too busy and hurried to slow down and enjoy the only time we have which is now. For some of us, there is always one more thing to attend to, more phone calls to make, more people wanting our time, more church events to attend or ministries to be involved in, and we can rationalize it all. Running around like chickens without heads, pleased without ourselves for "getting things done," for "doing the work of the Lord."  We are so busy that we fail to recognize that we are doing what Jesus did not do. He often took time out of His busy schedule to engage in solitude, to go away by Himself and rest a while. He knew what was really important.

Jesus also taught this principle to His disciples.  According to Mark's narrative, when the disciples returned from a busy but successful time of ministry, Jesus "said unto them, 'Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while': for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. And they departed into a desert place by ship privately" (Mark 6:31-32, KJV). Too busy to even eat!  If taking time out was important for Jesus and the disciples, how much more is it important for us! These times of retreat are important to not only get away from the pressures of a society that would seek to conform us to its ways, but to enable us to recalibrate spiritually while maintaining a fresh and vibrant relationship with God. We learn to truly prioritize what is really important in our lives.

I once read that if the devil cannot stop you, he will push you. Psychologist Carl Jung took it one step further when he said, "Hurry is not of the devil; hurry is the devil." With that in mind, let us resolve to start slowing down; to eliminate hurriedness from our lives. Paul's words to the Roman church is ours for today: "Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you" (Romans 12:2, The Message). One way to get started is to "come ye yourselves apart into a [quiet] place, and rest a while." 

A Man of Authority!

He was a centurion, a Roman officer and a commander of at least a hundred men who was accustomed to exercising authority. So when he sent his messengers - the Jewish elders - to Jesus beseeching Him that he would come and heal his servant who was dear unto him and sick to the point of death, he knew that it was not necessary for Jesus to come to his house. So when Jesus was not far from the house, "the centurion sent friends to Him, saying unto Him, 'Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof: Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it'" (Luke 7:6-8, KJV).

The dynamics were interesting. This Roman officer, being a Gentile, knew full well that it was not lawful for a Jew to go into the house of an uncircumcised Gentile. The elders even gave Jesus two reasons why He should help the officer, saying "he was worthy for whom He should do this: for he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue" (vv. 4,5). Yet this was not what caught Jesus' attention. For when He heard what the centurion had said, "He marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed Him, 'I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel'" (V.9). In other words, "I've yet to come across this kind of simple trust anywhere in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know about God and how He works" (The Message).

Three things merit our attention. Firstly, the centurion recognized Jesus as a man with authority who could as easily rebuke and call off sickness and it would obey Him, as he [the centurion] could command obedience from his soldiers and servant and have it. Secondly, this expressed faith in Jesus' ability resulted in the servant being healed at that instant (v. 10; Matthew 8:13). Thirdly, the people who were supposed to know about God and how He works, those in Israel, did not have that kind of faith.

How could they not have it? Not only was Jesus among them, but they had also seen the miracles He had done. Yet before we judge them too harshly, what about us? Do we really believe in Jesus' authority and His ability to do the things He says He can do? Do we, like the centurion, entrust to Him the situations dear to our hearts that only He can handle? What does our actions say? Simply acknowledging that Jesus is Lord is not enough. Our actions are the clearest expressions of what we truly believe, so if we believe God then our actions should reflect that belief.

Paul affirms, "Clearly, God has put everything under Christ's authority" (1 Corinthians 15:27, God's Word), and that "everything" include all the things that concern you and me. He is a Man of authority and He can be trusted; one word from Him can change your situation. Just ask the centurion.

Seeing As God Sees

When Abram received his marching orders to leave the idolatrous region of Mesopotamia for a land he did not know, for his obedience the LORD promised him, in part, "And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing" (Gen. 12:2, KJV). As he and his household made their way through the plain of Moreh, again the LORD assured Abram, "Unto thy seed will I give this land" (vv. 6-7). The promise of heirs made a lot of sense for Abram's name meant "high father." The fly in the ointment was that Sarai, his wife, was barren (Gen. 11:30); she could bear him no children.

We are not told that Abram thought about the reality of his situation and how that fitted into the plan of God. However, when God reassured him "Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward" (15:1), he did not hesitate to bring it up: "And Abram said, 'Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?' And Abram said, 'Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir'" (vv. 2-3). The LORD countered, "This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir" (v. 4). He then took Abram out of his tent and said to him, "'Look now toward heaven, and tell [try to count] the stars, if thou be able to number them': and He said unto him, 'So shall thy seed be'" (v.5). I would imagine that for a moment there was silence. As Abram gazed up into the skies looking at the countless stars, the promise of God echoing in his ears, something happened to him for the narrative tells us, "And he believed in the LORD" (v. 6a). In other words, he was able to see what God was seeing.

We do not know for sure if he understood everything at that point. Outwardly, his situation had not changed. Sarai, his only wife, was still barren, but in spite of that he believed in the promise of the LORD. He did not know how his LORD was going to pull off what He had promised, but they had traveled this far together and he was learning that his task was to trust and leave the outcome to Jehovah, the LORD.

We are in the same position today. As we journey with the LORD we find ourselves facing seemingly impossible situations. There are times when in our moments of weakness, like Abram, our faith wavers and we devise our own solutions (Gen. 16:1-4).  From our perspective, things just doesn't add up.  However, as the writer to the Hebrews reminds us, "let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised)" (Hebrews 10:26).  If God promised it, He will surely bring it to pass.  Let us change our perspective from being circumstances-centered to being God-centered. Let us remind ourselves of His promises and start to see as He sees. It is the only perspective that matters.