"Come away and rest"

 

“Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”  (Mark 6:30-34)

This is an invitation we may need to hear far more than we realize.  And it’s an invitation that many find hard to accept from Jesus.  Speaking from experience, we should take it as a direct invitation offered to us from our Lord. 

One summer day a few years ago at work, it was hot, we were short-handed, the customers seemed more weird than normal, and I missed my lunch hour--so naturally, I was short-tempered, rude and stressed.  I didn't like myself much by late afternoon, and I'm sure my employees and my customers felt the same way about me.  I hadn't eaten, and only had about 16oz of water and a candy bar all day.  I was mad at the world!  I felt like the weight of the world was coming at me all at once.

As I often did when I felt that way, I decided to call it a day at work and maybe sit in front of the Blessed Sacrament and say a rosary before Mass started at 5:45pm to try and calm down.  I drove over to the church and the doors were locked!  I cried out to Jesus, "Great, the way my day's been going, I NEED to get in there and talk to You, and the door’s locked!"  Right next to the entrance to the church was the Adoration chapel, which had a combination lock on it, and I didn't have the combination.  I again told Jesus that if I didn't get in to see Him soon, I was going to bust!  I had no sooner said it when some lady came out of nowhere, opened the door to the chapel and went in!  It took me a couple of seconds to realize what had happened!  Even though I had “spoken” to Jesus, I hadn’t really expected Him to answer me so soon.  My only thought was, "Whoa! He must have heard me!"  So I knocked on the door, the lady opened it, and I was able to go in.  After thanking her, I took out my rosary and started praying for calm.  20 minutes later, I had forgotten what a rotten day it had been and felt I was in the proper state of mind to attend Mass and receive Jesus in Holy Communion. 

There’s something very healing and helpful that comes from silence and moments of solitude.  There’s something about silence and solitude that enables us to get refocused.  So often in life we’re overwhelmed by busyness.  “Busyness” is often a way for the evil one to wear us down and get us off track.  It keeps us from the gentle, clear and refreshing voice of God. 

At the heart of this invitation is a longing in Jesus’ heart that we rest from those burdens which weigh us down unnecessarily.  It’s true that there are many good things God calls us to do that can exhaust us.  But this “holy exhaustion” is not a bad thing.  In fact, being “exhausted” by the will of God actually deepens our faith and fills us with joy.  And that joy lightens our burden (Matthew 11:28-30). 

The main reason for our need to “come away” and “rest” is that there are many things in life that are not part of God’s will.  These are burdens we impose upon ourselves unnecessarily.  These burdens, more than anything else, are what we need to rest from.

Coming away, alone, with Jesus, is a way of getting refocused and clearing out the clutter of life.  It’s a way of escaping from our impulses and habits that draw us away from the joyful will of God.  So think about this invitation.  Think about it practically.  I daresay most of us could find at least ten minutes today to go find silence so as to rest in the arms of Jesus!