Have you ever felt like my son, Joel - a little tired, overwhelmed, stressed, or maybe just felt burnt out? Recently, I’ve been experiencing the overwhelming feeling that the world is resting on my shoulders. I’ve realized as more responsibility and authority is put in my hands, the easier it is for me to feel overwhelmed and weighed down. Maybe you can relate.
Like many of you, I have a huge to-do list every day and it seems like everyone is looking to me for direction and support. Those I love are looking for me to lead them and ease them of the pressure they are also feeling. My kids need me more than ever to give them attention that only I can give. But, who’s watching out for me and helping me refill my cup? I don’t need a feel-good message, or a self-help book, I just need…. well, that’s the problem, up until a month or so ago, I didn’t really know what I truly needed.
About the time when I wanted to run away and escape all of the feelings I just described above, my kids also got to this same place of utter exhaustion. Our youngest, Joel, collapsed on the floor in the middle of his toddler class at church. This is very uncharacteristic of Joel. He is usually happy and literally never stops running around. He is an endless ball of energy and fun. However, when I found him, he was laying on the ground, eyes closed, with his arms tucked underneath his body on the ground. When I came up to him he had one response - he put both arms up, motioning for me to take him into my arms.
Then for the next two hours, he lay lifeless, sleeping on my shoulder. His chest went up and down with deep breaths as our hearts were literally pressed into each other. It was absolutely perfect and beautiful for both of us. And for the next two hours as he rested on me, I couldn’t help but think about how this moment was God trying to get through to me. Then it finally hit me - what I needed more than anything was my Heavenly Father. This was the posture my Father was wanting me to take WITH Him, but I was too busy running around trying to do things FOR Him.
Then my Heavenly Father started speaking to me, “Jon, I love you too much to let you burn out. Jon, I know you can do a lot of cool things and I’m proud of you for working hard, but I need you to stop and rest in my arms. Jon, don’t do anything else until you get your heart close to my heart. You don’t need to worship, you don’t need to go help anyone find me right now, you need to stop and breathe deep breaths. I LOVE YOU!"
There is a time to work and there is a time to rest. I would encourage you to find that place to rest in the arms of your Heavenly Father. He is safe. He is strong. He knows what we really need, and it might be different than what we think we need. You and I need a Father to guide us through the situations we are facing. We need our Father to remind us of who we are. We need our Father to help us to lay down our false gods of performance. We don’t need more money, or more clients, or more on our to-do lists. We need to rest with our Father.
How often do we try to recharge our spiritual batteries with things that cannot help us? We try to fix the problem by liking or posting pictures. This might help us feel rested for a little bit, but are we experiencing true rest for our souls? What we really need is to experience our Heavenly Father reminding us of who we are. We need to feel His heart pressed up against ours.
He loves you. You belong to HIM!
