Rest

Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. - Matt 11:28

The past few weeks have seen a number of excellent developments in Canada East Mission. Most of the highlights have been mentioned in What’s the Good Word? already. These include a gathering of ministers who now serve as mentors for several of our CPI pastors. They came together to study and learn about how they could best help those front-line leaders. Then we had MEGA; an event which brought together many young adult leaders with several of the Seventy for a weekend of fellowship and worship. This past weekend saw our nine newest High Priests, Evangelists and Bishop come together to study and learn how they can be more effective in their ministry within the mission centre.

I confess that this has also been a busy time with no days off and little chance for rest. I expected to feel tired, but I do not. Perhaps it is because of being somewhat strategic in planning for each day, deliberately sacrificing some activities in order to ensure sufficient sleep. Perhaps the joy of accomplishment overcomes the weariness of the effort. What ever the reason, I know myself to be blessed.

I was sharply reminded of the need for rest on Sunday evening during a family gathering when several people showed up dog-tired. Some had been working for weeks to get a house ready to sell. Others had been putting in long hours at work, and some I never did find out the reason for their obvious weariness. Interesting that here we were, on the evening of the Christian Sabbath, at the end of the weekend, and everyone was exhausted! It all serves as a reminder that each of us need time to rest. We need rest physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

My grandfather used to say, “A change is as good as a rest.” Later, I worked for a man who would often say (when he would think of some smaller task that needed doing), “We can do that sometime while we’re resting.” While there is truth in all these sayings, the fact remains that sometimes you just need to stop.

Consequently, with the Canada Day weekend approaching, we have decided to close the office and give our staff one extra day off. The staff will have a have four day weekend. (Okay three; none of really gets Sunday off!) Of course we will each need to decide what we will do with it; whether we rest or work hard doing something else. Hopefully we will come back rested and refreshed, and not exhausted.

May you also take time for your rest, and for communion with God. And may you also know yourself to be blessed in the process.

Posted by Carman