Rest: What DID Jesus DO?
The hostess was escorting us to our table when my phone rang. I hate being that person who talks on the phone in a restaurant, especially when the poor hostess is just trying to get us to our seats and get our drink orders. Still, I knew it was my dad, and I had barely talked to him all week, so I answered the phone even though it was so loud I knew we’d barely be able to hear one another.
“You sitting at the bar?” was his greeting because he knows we’re terrible at making reservations and love to sit at the bar and look out over the river on Friday nights at our favorite local joint–which he knew we were at because what adult doesn’t have a Life360 circle with their parents…
Even though I knew he could barely hear me over the background noise, I explained that we had been mature adults, made reservations, and were being seated as we spoke.
We tried to talk for a couple more minutes before I finally gave up and told him I’d call him the next day.
It had been a crazily busy week for us, and I had barely got a chance to talk to him because we were running ragged. That’s odd for us because I typically talk to him every day even if it’s just for a few minutes. We had been on a mad sprint for a week, and we were utterly exhausted.
The previous weekend, I catered (which means “we” catered) an event for our women’s ministry. So, on Saturday, we prepped all day, and then on Sunday we had church, decorating, cooking, the event, and the event cleanup. Monday, we both woke up completely run down and attacked by the sinus crap that invades the Midwest. On Tuesday, we had dinner with friends already scheduled. Wednesday, we breathed for a few minutes. Then, on Thursday, I had a video shoot for our church that was emotionally exhausting and took a lot longer than any of us expected. Then, finally, we got to Friday and just had a family dinner planned at one of our favorite places.
We were whooped.
The week was an anxiety-inducing mirror of the way I used to live and an excellent reminder that I don’t ever plan on going back to that place or way of living.
What’s interesting is that for the video I was shooting for our upcoming sermon series, I spent a ton of time revisiting and reflecting on that time of my life–the years I spent believing God would love me more if I lived completely selflessly and poured myself into everyone and everything else.
Just revisiting those years of performance, rule-following, exhaustion, no-boundaries, and the ensuing implosion that resulted, was a bit PTSD-inducing, to say the least, but it was also a great reminder of who I never want to be again, who God has created me to be, and his unconditional love for me that allows for rest.
I spent years believing that I could “rest when I was dead” and that God was calling me (and all of us) to a life of complete and utter selflessness. I didn’t have my own identity; my identity was simply the things I was doing, and I thought that was who God created each of us to be–performers in his church and his kingdom.
It took years and a complete life implosion for me to understand that God has created each of us as unique individuals who are not called to a life of performance but to authentic balanced lives that involve and require rest.
Somehow, in all those years of service and performance, I completely missed the parts of Christ’s story and ministry where he removed himself from people, situations, and expectations, and he rested.
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Jesus Sought Seclusion
Last week, we talked about how when Jesus was in Capernaum, he preached, cast out demons, healed Simon’s mother-in-law, and then proceeded to heal everyone who was brought to him. You can find that narrative in Luke chapter 4, and you can read about it here:
https://kristenneighbarger.com/2024/02/21/unconditional-hope-healing
After Jesus does this, Luke explains that:
At daybreak the next morning, the crowds came and searched everywhere for him, but Jesus had already left to go to a secluded place. When they finally found him, they held him tightly, begging him to stay with them in Capernaum.
Luke 4: 42 TPT
If you’re like me, you’ve probably read this story hundreds of times and never spent much time thinking about these couple of sentences. We spend countless Sundays in churches talking about how Jesus preached and healed, but how often do we talk about the fact that his humanity needed rest as well? If I’m being completely honest with you, I don’t know that I’ve ever heard a sermon–or even a lesson–about rest in the church.
And, that’s incredibly unfortunate.
I’ve heard preachers speak about the fact that Jesus spent time in the garden praying before he was arrested, but I don’t know that I’ve ever heard one speak about the times when Jesus purposely separated himself from the crowds and rested.
For many churches/pastors, I think this is a scary topic to talk about. They struggle to get people to serve as it is, and I think they fear if they talk about rest, it might give their folks an excuse to say “no” even more, to sleep in on Sunday mornings, or to skip a Sunday night youth group.
I’ve been in churches like that and known pastors who thought like that.
Here’s the thing, though, friends: our lives need balance, and we need rest.
We weren’t created to do it all.
Even Jesus, who was the Son of God, God incarnate, and the Savior of the world needed rest–prioritized seclusion and rest.
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Knowing your Purpose:
What happens next in this narrative is interesting. Luke explains:
But Jesus said, “Don’t you know there are other places I must go and offer the hope of God’s kingdom? This is what I have been sent to do.”
Jesus continued to travel and preach in the synagogues throughout the land.
Luke 4:43-44 TPT
I can’t imagine what it must have been like for those people in Capernaum who had been completely moved by Jesus’s words, seen him cast out demons who called him by name, and then healed everyone who was brought to him and got close enough to him to reach out and touch him.
That had to be life-changing for those folks.
I can understand, then, why they didn’t want Jesus to leave Capernaum.
I can understand why they would have woken up the next morning and sought out Christ and his presence. It had to feel like they were sitting in the literal presence of hope.
It’s understandable, then, why they would seek him out, hold him tightly, and beg him to stay.
Jesus didn’t falter in what he was called to do despite being embraced, loved on, and begged to do something else.
Have you been there?
Has God been calling you to rest, but the people are begging you for more?
Has God been calling you to serve one place, but the church is desperate for your service in another?
Has God been calling you to sit still in his presence, but the children’s ministry has you so busy, that you never sit down on a Sunday morning?
Has God been calling you to seclusion, but the worship team wants you on the stage?
This is a tough one, isn’t it? Finding the balance between what you’re being asked to do and what God is calling you to can feel like a nearly impossible task at times, can’t it?
I wonder how torn Jesus felt that morning when he was trying to rest in seclusion before heading out to follow his purpose but the people came in droves, embraced him, and begged him to stay.
I wonder how tempting it was for him to leave that place of solitude and go back to Capernaum to spend just a little more time with these folks who were desperate for more time with him.
Let’s be honest–that wasn’t a bad option. It probably even seemed like a good option–to spend a little more time there with those people who were pouring out love, adoration, and admiration onto him.
But, even though it was a good option, it wasn’t the right option.
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Listening for God’s Still Small Voice
God spent years trying to tell me to slow it down and rest–literal years.
I spent those years barreling full steam ahead and doing what I thought I needed to be doing to perform more, give more of myself, and, hopefully, earn a little more of God’s love. Those things I was doing were good–they were for the good of others and the good of the church, but they weren’t what was right for me.
Even they were right and good, and they weren’t right and good for me.
I spent a solid five years sitting still, listening, and healing before I was in a place where God knew I was ready to get out of my seat again–where I was in tune with God’s still small voice enough that I could begin discerning what isn’t just right and good, but what is right and good for me.
What I’ve learned over the years is that what is right and good for me is balance that involves both service and rest.
I know that even though last week was a sprint, this week won’t be because that isn’t the life God has planned for me–or anyone else.
For those of us who grew up in high-control religion and had faulty theology shoved down our throats that told us God’s love was based on performance, this is a really hard concept to grasp and keep ahold of. You’re probably struggling with balance, boundaries, and giving yourself time to rest, and I pray you remember that Jesus separated himself from the crowds, he spent time resting in seclusion, he knew what his purpose was, and he only said “yes” to the things that were within his purpose and his calling. Even though staying in Capernaum to love, heal, and offer hope to those folks would have been good, he knew it wasn’t right for him.
You are the only person who can know what it is God is telling you to say “yes” to just like you’re the only person who can know when God is telling you to separate yourself and rest. Sometimes, that won’t make sense to other people, and that’s okay. Sometimes, you need to sit in the seats for five years, and other people won’t understand, but if that’s what God’s still small voice is leading you to, then that is what is right and is good for you, friend.
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What DID Jesus Do: Rest
Let’s not forget that to know what Jesus would do, we have to take the time to learn about what Jesus DID do. And, we know Jesus separated himself from the crowds, and he rested.
Friend, if you are feeling like you’re on a sprint today, maybe God is telling you to slow down, to say “no,” and to embrace the rest you desperately need.
Even the son of man needed rest, friends. Let’s not forget that this week.
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Reflections:
What are the things in your life that make you feel like you’re in a dead sprint?
What are you saying “yes” to that you know might be good but that isn’t right for you?
When can you purposefully schedule and make time for rest this week?
