What is your first response when you start feeling weary in your circumstances?
For me, I usually look for a quick and easy stress reliever. Chocolate, coffee, or wine are all easy ways for me to let indulgence distract me from my stress. Other times I give into the feelings of frustration and begin to vocalize my emotions in a negative way. I become critical, harsh, and unkind to the people around me. Mostly I just start to feel defeated, less than, and begin to feel like a failure.
Jesus knows that we all struggle with feelings of exhaustion and exasperation. John 11: 28-30 says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Oh man, what a precious promise of relief for the moments we really need it!
How do we walk in that rest and practice reaching for that comfort when we need it? I’ve been thinking about this a lot these past few weeks because we are once again parenting toddlers. We are in the process of adopting a two-year-old and a three-year-old. There is such joy in becoming this big, crazy family, but it’s also easy to get weary as a parent. Parenting is tough. Foster care and adoption add a whole extra layer to parenthood. Also, toddlers are crazy!
I need Jesus more than ever to love my people well. I can become burdened with worries about all the things I am unable to control about my children’s stories. I can feel exhausted as I am busy meeting needs all day long. I am grieved by the losses they have already endured. It can all start feeling very heavy. Thankfully, I am not in this alone. God often gives us more than we can handle by ourselves, and the reason why is he is teaching us to draw on his strength and call on His Spirit more and more each day.
Here are some ways the Bible tells us we can find rest:
1. Pursue Meekness
In the Beatitudes, which are found in Matthew 5, Jesus teaches that the meek are blessed. Meekness can also be described as gentleness. It’s a restrained expression of the power we have been given in this life. As a parent, meekness is hard to maintain! When my children start to overwhelm me, I tend to use a harsh tone and a heavy hand to force them to change their behavior. This tactic in life is exhausting. Trying to control others almost never works and is a life-sucking endeavor.
A meek heart is one that acknowledges the need for God’s hand to be at work in our lives. It lets go of the death grip many of us maintain on our circumstances and trusts that God will work out our circumstances for his glory. Meekness is a gentle diligence that commits to surrendering our lives to the Lord. Jesus declares that it is the meek that will inherit the Earth. That’s a pretty big promise, and it’s a statement we can rest in.
2. Pursue Prayer
Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” I love the image of us sitting to pray to God's peace, just descending on us like a cloud. This peace that guards us and keeps us in the precious will of God.
Prayer is the tool God uses for us to release our cares over to him. It’s so interesting that, as humans, we often need to share in order to heal. God knows this; that’s why he invented prayer. As we share our hearts with God we begin to enter his presence and experience his rest. Sometimes prayer is not about seeing God change our circumstances but about God changing our hearts.
As I walk through this intense season of parenting, I keep praying that God will give me his heart of love for my children. He will renew my strength so I can see past the tantrums and whining. I can see his heart for the kids he has given me to shepherd and allow me to show them his love, even when it feels tough. It’s these simple prayers that have the power to turn around my days.
3. Pursue God’s Presence
Exodus 33:14 says, “And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” One of the characteristics of God’s spirit is rest. If you are not sure if something is a part of God’s will, one way to Biblically test the situation is if you feel peace and rest in your circumstances. You can live through the craziest God moments and all the while experience his supernatural peace.
God doesn’t call us to do easy things, but he is a God of order. In our own story, as we have walked through years of uncertainty as foster parents, we have felt supernatural peace through this very long wait for an adoption date. This journey God has called us to has not been easy, but it’s never felt chaotic. Each time our minds have been flooded with worry, his rest-giving Spirit has reminded us that he has our family in his hands. Pursue God’s presence in your life, and you will begin to experience a new level of rest, order, and peace.
4. Pursue Gratitude
As we give thanks to the Lord, we can start to feel our spirits rise. God tells us in Nehemiah 8:10 that his joy is our strength. Practically speaking, this can be writing a list of things you are grateful for at the start or end of a day. It can be singing songs of worship to our King that lift him up, helping us see his mighty hand at work in our lives. This can be taking a break from your routine to pursue rest, relaxation, and the chance to be present with your people so you can enjoy them once again.
This weekend I felt super overwhelmed as a Mom. I struggled to see how I was going to make it through another week, here at home, with five loud and crazy kids! God helped me let go of my worries and see that there is much joy to be experienced here in this chaotic season. He prompted me to note the things that I am grateful for right now, as I walk through a season that feels tough as a Mom. He gave me cheerleaders that remind me that they are also grateful for me and the ways that my faithfulness helps them. This surge of gratitude has helped to flip the script in my brain. I may feel overwhelmed at times, but God is doing a good work in my home, heart, and community. I have much to give thanks for.
Rest is something we all have a hard time pursuing in our crazy busy culture. Fast-paced, high-stress, and super-independent lifestyles are praised in our country. This is the work of the enemy. He wants to leave us so depleted we can’t see past the moment, and we lose sight of our eternal purpose. Busied people are not purposeful people. If we aren’t intentional, then we begin to miss out on what God is trying to do in and through our lives.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/petrenkod
