I have had a particularly busy few weeks. Both work and my home life have had a lot going on. On Monday, at the Corporate Office, we were having a little celebration with Dave Petkau as he commemorated his one year anniversary of getting a gym membership that he actually used. (Dave is the Director of Ontario Operations and will be walking from Kitchener to Windsor to raise support for a CH Global project in Guatemala. For more info check out his blog http://davesdistrictdash.blogspot.com/ .) Since the theme of the day was to be on health, I decided, for our Monday Morning Devotion, to teach from the Soul Care for the Caregiver course that Pastoral Ministries offers. The key point was that it is all about putting yourself in the best position in order to better care for others. The first rule is you have to take care of yourself or you are no good to anyone else. So, I talked about the importance of taking care of your physical body.
Jesus slept.
Mathew 8:23-25
23Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"
In this busy time, it was refreshing for me to focus on the fact that Jesus slept. For those of us who care for others the work never ends and it is difficult to know when we have done “enough”. There is always someone who needs us. But think about this - Jesus slept while there were still sick people in the world. He slept even though He knew there were still hungry people, possessed people, hurting people and people who didn’t believe in Him. Jesus slept anyway because He was fully human. He needed sleep. Like Jesus, we were made to need sleep. It is no a result of sin or Jesus wouldn’t have done it. I sometimes burn out because I try to do too much but I don’t feel like I can stop because I will let someone down. But, if I don’t rest I will let everyone down.
Jesus was accused of being uncaring. Mark’s gospel records the disciples saying "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" (Mark 4:38) That is one of my biggest fears and as a result, I want to please everyone. Did Jesus care? Of course he did. Jesus also sometimes needed sleep.
Our bodies are tools for ministry. God does not use us without using our bodies. Even if we are “just praying”, we need our bodies to stay awake.
Mark 14:37-38
37Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Simon," he said to Peter, "are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
Often I ask God to give me energy while I ignore the way He has designed me in order to be
re-energized: I need to sleep.
Mark Wallace
Jesus slept.
Mathew 8:23-25
23Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"
In this busy time, it was refreshing for me to focus on the fact that Jesus slept. For those of us who care for others the work never ends and it is difficult to know when we have done “enough”. There is always someone who needs us. But think about this - Jesus slept while there were still sick people in the world. He slept even though He knew there were still hungry people, possessed people, hurting people and people who didn’t believe in Him. Jesus slept anyway because He was fully human. He needed sleep. Like Jesus, we were made to need sleep. It is no a result of sin or Jesus wouldn’t have done it. I sometimes burn out because I try to do too much but I don’t feel like I can stop because I will let someone down. But, if I don’t rest I will let everyone down.
Jesus was accused of being uncaring. Mark’s gospel records the disciples saying "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" (Mark 4:38) That is one of my biggest fears and as a result, I want to please everyone. Did Jesus care? Of course he did. Jesus also sometimes needed sleep.
Our bodies are tools for ministry. God does not use us without using our bodies. Even if we are “just praying”, we need our bodies to stay awake.
Mark 14:37-38
37Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Simon," he said to Peter, "are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
Often I ask God to give me energy while I ignore the way He has designed me in order to be
re-energized: I need to sleep.
Mark Wallace
1 comments:
needed that... thank you!
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