It was spring, and yet, summer couldn’t come quickly enough. Summer meant home assignment and taking a break from the heaviness of sin and broken relationships in the lives of people in our pastoral care. I was weary and emotionally spent, and honestly felt out of my depth in helping them. I was carrying their burdens while not caring for myself (Galatians 6:1-2, “…Bear one another’s burdens…”). 

In the book, Sacred Rhythms, by Ruth Haley Barton, she says this about Sabbath and establishing rhythms of work and rest: “God is the only One who is infinite. I am finite, which means that I live within physical limits of time and space and bodily limits of strength and energy. There are limits to my capacities relationally, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. I am not God. God is the One who can be all things to all people.” 

I was so eager to get away because I was exhausted trying to be all things to all people. I wasn’t taking time to rest my soul and relinquish control of my ministry. Resting requires trust, and by not practicing rest, I was forgetting to trust the “One who can be all things to all people,” including me. 

Part of home assignment is meant for rest and rejuvenation (in between ministry updates and partner development!), but I didn’t want to get into the habit of only resting when I was away from my ministry. That wouldn’t sustain me long term, and it would remove the one thing I need most for ministry…trust in the Lord.

Rest needed to be a normal rhythm of life to develop and strengthen my trust muscles. Then bearing others’ burdens wouldn’t lead to exhaustion but trust. And trust would sustain me in my work for the duration.

So when I begin to feel overwhelmed or exhausted from my work, I must remember that rest increases my faith and brings glory to our infinite God.