What part of STOP don’t you understand?

 

Have you ever been so overwhelmed and exhausted that you find it hard to keep up with all of life’s demands? Have you ever just been tired? Like, really tired. Physically, emotionally, mentally?

But then when you finally take the time to stop, you feel guilty for resting? Maybe you feel like you’re letting everyone down. Including God.

You struggle on but you can’t remember the last time you felt properly rested.

I know the feeling well. I often wake up tired. Work needs me. My family needs me. My household chores need me. There’s another email that needs answering. Another text that needs replying to. Something else that needs attending to.

You keep telling yourself that you should be stronger. You should be able to cope with the workload. You should be able to handle it.

But what if you are placing on yourself more than God wants you to? What if you’re asking more of yourself than God is?

There was a man in the Bible who felt this way. We read about him in the book of 1 Kings, chapters 18 and 19.

Elijah, the great prophet of God, used mightily in so many ways found himself tired and soul weary.

There had been a severe drought and famine in the land of Israel for three years and the people couldn’t seem to make up their minds as to whether they would serve JEHOVAH God or Baal, the idol of the heathen nations.

Elijah realised that the people needed a very real, very tangible example of God’s power to prove once and for all that JEHOVAH God was the only, one and true God. And so, as I’m sure you know the story, Elijah challenged Ahab to a contest on Mount Carmel.

We read the story in verses 23 to 40 and as we know, God got the victory once again and proved himself mighty in the eyes of all who had gathered there.

Now, you would think that after so great a victory, Elijah would be overjoyed, exuberant and in the best of spirits. But then came Jezebel’s threat to have him killed and Elijah fled to the wilderness and found himself sitting in despair under a Juniper tree.

He had just experienced an incredible God moment, but after, his life was threatened, he was afraid and overwhelmed, and he just wanted to die.

And what happened next? He fell asleep.

And as he lay down to sleep and to rest his weary body and soul, an angel came and said those interesting words, “Arise and eat.” Wait, what?

1 Kings 19:5-8 KJV - And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.

Yes, you read that right. The angel of the Lord, a special manifestation of God himself, told Elijah to have a snack and take a nap.

Before Elijah did anything else, God gave him what he needed to keep going.

He had experienced great victory and yet he was exhausted, overwhelmed and afraid. There is something you need to hear.

You can be doing something good and still be doing too much if you are not taking time to rest. If you have been taught that to be faithful means always being available or being faithful means always saying yes, you need to remember this story of Elijah.

God cared about Elijah’s exhaustion. God knew he needed rest. And so, he encouraged it.

We can care deeply about people, we can enjoy serving others, but we can still reach a point where we have nothing left to give, if only for a short time.

Did you notice that when the angel woke Elijah, he didn’t tell him to get up and read his Bible? He didn’t tell him to get on his face in prayer. He didn’t even tell him to go and find himself the nearest church to listen to a rousing sermon. Although those are all good things, he wasn’t told to do them.

He was told to eat. Not once, but twice.

He needed a snack and a nap. Something physical that would give him the strength to go on.

God met Elijah in his exhaustion. He met him in the middle of his overwhelm.

Even when you have nothing left to give, you are worth caring for. God sees you in your tiredness.

Have you ever stopped to think about the importance of rest? Did you know that God, when he created the world, built into it a rhythm of rest?

Jesus himself had rhythms of rest in his daily life. The Sabbath didn’t just mean taking a day off, it meant ceasing from labour.

Jesus took times to rest. He went into an isolated place and took time to rest and pray. (Mark 1:35)

He urged his disciples to take time out to rest and refresh. (Mark 6:31)

And the well-known passage in Matthew 11:28-30 reminds us to come to Christ in order to find rest and renewal.

In today’s busy world, rest is sometimes seen as a sign of weakness. But God sees it as important and necessary.

Resting is not a form of weakness but of strength.

What I’m trying to get at is this. When you go through struggles and stress, when you find yourself exhausted and about to boil over, at the point of breaking, remember how important it is to align yourself with the rhythms of rest that God created for you so that you can endure the journey he has for you ahead.

God didn’t just give us food and sleep for our enjoyment and pleasure, but he gave it to us for nourishment for our bodies to help build the strength to keep going.

When we overlook rest, it will affect every area of our life. Our health, our mental and physical ability to function, our attitude, our relationships. All of it.

Elijah had been running and running, doing God’s work, it was good work, but he was wearing himself out in the process. He needed a time of rest.

God wants us to take time to rest.

I’m not talking about laziness here. There are many verses that talk about labour and the importance of diligence and faithfulness and hard work. But rest is paramount.

Our times of rest are not a one-off thing. We need to continually take times of rest. Don’t wait until you’re burnt before you stop. Don’t wait until you find yourself at breaking point.

Build into your life rhythms of rest. Make time for it.

And in case you are not sure what this looks like, let me tell you that rest looks different for everyone.

It may be sitting down with a good book. It may be going outside for a long walk. It may be listening to music while doing nothing. It may be sitting in complete silence and meditating on the Words of scripture. It may be playing a musical instrument. Or it may be as simple as a snack and a nap.

If you are running on empty today, I encourage you to find some time in your day to stop and rest. Even if it’s only for 5 minutes. Find what makes you feel rested and refreshed and work it into your busy schedule.

Rest is a Biblical mandate. Don’t overlook it.

What are you carrying that is not yours to carry?

What are you saying yes to that God wants you to say no to?

What is it that you need that you keep ignoring?

What part of God calling you to rest don’t you understand?

Matthew 11:28

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.