Does the lead-up to Christmas make you tired?
12 December 2018
Every year, caught in the pre-Christmas rush, I listen wearily to Jesus call those who “labour and are overburdened” to come to him and “rest”. “Shoulder my yoke and learn from me,” he says, “for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
What does this really mean for us, practically speaking? What strikes me is that humility is all about being grounded in the truth. And, if I’m being honest about what makes me most stressed at this time of year, it’s all about trying to be all things to all people and somehow keeping control of all of the pieces of my life and getting everything done that needs to be done.
Into all of this striving and stressing and clinging, today’s first reading speaks of a deeper truth – that God is ultimately the one in control: “Did you not know? Had you not heard? The Lord is an everlasting God, he created the boundaries of the earth. He does not grow tired or weary, his understanding is beyond fathoming.”
“[T]hose who hope in the Lord,” Isaiah goes on to remind us, are the ones who “renew their strength… run and do not grow weary, walk and never tire.” Perhaps, then, what Jesus calls us to is the deeper heart rest of knowing that we don’t have it all together, and that we don’t have to – that we can trust God to take care of us and our world.
This kind of heart attitude, it seems to me, takes off a whole load of pressure, and allows us to experience the world more as God’s beloved children, experiencing his providence and enjoying his gifts.
Lord, please show us the way to this kind of living!
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