For much of the last few
weeks I have struggled a bit with my health. It’s been a brutally cold winter
in Chicago so I’ll just blame the weather. In early February I like to get away
for a few days to just rest and de-stress. Carla and I spent about 6 days at a
friend’s condo in South Haven to read, write and think, but without the stress
of interruption from calls, emails, texts and unexpected crisis walking into my
office. It was very restful and rejuvenating! My mind lately had grown
exhausted from what has been a very exciting and effective time of almost
continuous ministry. Not all burdens will exhaust the body, but all burdens can
exhaust our mind and spirit.
Rest is of course a
Biblical commandment. Yeshua our Messiah himself spoke this challenge to us in
Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Yeshua is not speaking here of taking a break from doing the dishes, instead
Yeshua is speaking of laying on him the deep burdens of our heart and mind.
Laying our burdens at the
feet of our Messiah Yeshua brings rest. For those of us in ministry work,
whether vocational or volunteer, this means rest from assuming responsibility
for what we can’t control; rest from activity that G-d hasn’t actually called
us to do; rest from people who won’t choose to change no matter how much time we
might pour into their lives.
Yeshua calls us to rest in him, in who he is and in his
sovereignty over our lives as Melech Mashiach, King Messiah!
Impacting our world for
Messiah demands our willingness to work hard for him while at the same time resting fully in him. Paradoxical yes, but
isn’t that always G-d’s way? Something to think about!
Forward for Messiah,
Rabbi Kirk Gliebe
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