Finding the Space to 'Carry On'

* Matthew 14:12-13, “Later, John’s disciples came for his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus what had happened. As soon as Jesus heard the news, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone.”

* Mark 6:30-31, “The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. Then Jesus said, ‘Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest a while’. He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.”

In Matthew’s Gospel, the only reason presented to the reader why Jesus withdraws to a lonely place is that Herod is beginning to regard Him as the resurrected John the Baptist. But Mark offers an alternate reason, and this is tied in with the return of the disciples to Jesus and of their relating to Him all that’s been done in the places from which they came. It would appear that so popular had the thirteen of them become (the twelve and Jesus), that they were drawing greater crowds than ever before and that they had no time even to eat – let alone to sit down and rest!

Jesus, concerned that there would be no let up in this situation and that it seemed as if there could be a continuation, calls them apart and takes them across the lake away from the crowds that were pressing in all about them (Mark 6:32). What we aught to remember here is that excessive and continuing ministry was something, which even Jesus was aware, could be a problem and that a ‘wilderness experience’ (in the sense that no ministry was to happen) was an integral part of their calling to serve God. There are recorded instances throughout Church history of men and women ‘burning out’ for God through their unrestrained work toward people to whom they’re called and, though it would be wrong for me to state categorically that such cases were against God’s will for the believer’s life, it has to be noted that there are times for rest and recuperation that even Jesus realised.

It’s in the wilderness experience – finding space – that you discover the strength and power carry on. Or, to be able to begin again where you left off and grow even stronger than you were before. Finding ‘space to carry on’ is finding rest and relaxation. Life is busy and it seems each year it just gets busier. Work, family, school, and other commitments just eat the day away and leave you with no time to sit back and really relax. However, rest and relaxation is very important. In fact, getting enough rest is imperative to living a healthy lifestyle and when you do not relax and get enough sleep you are putting yourself at risk for illness as well as other side effects.

The body needs rest to function properly. The amount of rest each of us needs every night differs, however the average adult needs approximately 7-8 hours of sleep each night to restore their body with the energy it needs to handle all of the demands of living each day. However, most people cut back on their sleep to pack more activities into their day. Unfortunately, this runs the body down allowing more viruses or diseases to attack the body because the immune system is not functioning as well as it should. As a result, the person gets sick and misses days, or even weeks, of all of those ‘very important’ tasks or activities. When you get enough rest your body runs as it should and your immune system is stronger and able to fight off infections more easily.

Also, when you don’t get enough rest you have difficulty concentrating, thinking clearly, and even remembering things. Now, you might not notice this at first, and even blame it on your busy schedule, but the more sleep you miss (and rest you miss out on) the more pronounced these symptoms will become. In addition, a lack of rest and relaxation can really affect your moods. It is a scientific fact that when you don’t have sufficient rest your personality is affected and you are generally grumpier, less patient, and snap easier. As a result, you’re not a very nice person to be around.

Even Jesus was aware of the importance of rest. So much so that He made this promise… (Matthew 11:28) "Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” To all of us Christ offers ‘rest,’ not in the (next) life only, but also in this life. Rest from the weight of sin, from care and worry, from the load of daily anxiety and concern. The true rest that arrives only when handing over all your worries to Christ and receiving from Him all that you need. Have you entered into that experience?

Hebrews 4:1-16 gives us further insight into rest – a rest we should ‘enter into’. Note the key to entering God’s rest is faith - believing in his promise of provision (verses 2 and 3). But what does this faith involve? Faith involves both ceasing from your works and making every effort. This sounds like a nonsensical paradox. But it’s not the case. There is a sense in which biblical faith involves both passivity and effort. And this means no active response or resistance (passivity), in the sense that you stop depending on your own resources and depend instead on God’s resources. Faith is saying: “I cannot do this – only God can do this.” Yet it requires effort to choose to depend on God.

We instinctively rely on our own efforts and resources instead of on God’s. This is the heart of what it means to be humanistic, and is what drives humanism. So faith is counter-intuitive, a deliberate choice that is usually against our feelings and own “wisdom.” It was counter-intuitive for the Israelites to not work on Saturday when they didn’t have excess food. It was counter-intuitive for the Israelites to go into a land full of stronger enemies.

But what convinces us that we need to stop trusting our own resources and instead depend upon God and his provision? The answer is God’s Word (verse 12,13) notice the “for” in verse 12. When we read God’s Word or hear it shared/taught by others, God himself opens our eyes to see how desperately we need to depend upon His provision. It reveals the discrepancy between what we have and what God wants us to have. His Word quickly and effectively exposes the reason for any discrepancy (lack of faith), and it creates a healthy “tension” that motivates us to close that gap by ‘totally depending on God’.

It is God’s infallible Word that searches your heart and motivates you to cry out to God: “I have not been trusting you enough, God. I want to trust You (and only You) again, so I can be close to You.” Many of you are probably experiencing the same effect of God’s Word this morning as we hear what it says about true rest. Your heart is attracted to the rest that Jesus offers — and you realise that you don’t have this rest, and this means that you aren’t relating properly to Jesus, or you would have His rest. This is what God’s Word does – it reveals our lack of faith, and points us to Jesus as the proper object of our faith… “It’s Author and Finisher!”

Finally, verses 14 -16 disclose the central idea that Jesus is our High Priest, and that therefore, personally depending on Him is how we enter into God’s rest. Why? Because He sympathises with our frailties and was in all matters tested as we are. Yet, He did not give in or give up. Therefore, if you wish to find the space to “carry on”, come boldly into the throne room of grace! Even in times of great need, there’s always enough room for all of us.

Chris Demetriou, 22/02/2009