When God made a promise to Abraham he swore by Himself saying “I will surely bless you and multiply you.” Abraham patiently endured and obtained the promise. 

The promise God gave Abraham was abundant, but often we settle for “good enough.”

In the winter of 2021, I was settling for “good enough.” COVID had been going on for a year, and I just began a new position in my organization. I had uprooted my life to move to Ottawa and I had been given a team to lead through “unprecedented times.” I was constantly trying to come up with new ways to approach our work, I had a roommate who I loved living with, close friends I lived next to and… I was burnt out.

The thought of joining team check-in seemed like a mountain I could not climb. After pivoting and pivoting and pivoting again I came to God and said “I can’t do this.”

God’s answer was unexpected. He said “come away with me.”

Lent was coming up and I felt God calling me to take a day off in the week from work. Fully off. He called me to step away for a day and let Him fill me up and take care of the campus, to delight in Him and His world, to rest in him. On the surface, it sounded wonderful. An extra day off, once a week just to do what makes me happy and draw closer to Jesus? What could be better?

It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. It was difficult because even when I chose to take time away for rest in God on Tuesday, all my work was still there. All my obligations still needed to be scheduled, just on different days. All the group chats I was in were still getting texts. It took everything in me to not do work, because work was always there.

Even when I was physically removed from my responsibilities, it was hard to shut my brain down. I was worried that if I stopped, I wouldn’t be able to keep up. 

The problem with is that life is ALWAYS moving. The world spins regardless of whether or not you choose to spin with it. If I stepped away from work without also re-orienting my thoughts around God and around rest, I would never actually be sustained, I would just keep looking for the next opportunity for a break.

God called me to not just stop going to work but to stop working.

Instead, the Lord called me to slow down and rest in Him. He asked me to trust that He wouldn’t leave me abandoned or destitute.

We are all like this in little ways. The Lord calls us to daily prayer both when we feel like we have all the time in the world and when we feel like 10 minutes is too many. When we are busy, we are more likely to take on more things of this world than things of God. We find quick fixes to our problems and our busy lives instead of the long lasting peace that God promises.

Right now, if someone were to ask you the question “how are you,” what would you say? My guess is that the default response for most people would be “good... just busy.” We often tell ourselves that as soon as we make it through the season we’re in, things will get better. 

“I just have to finish this big project.”

“All I need to do is make it past the terrible twos.”

“Maybe when this busy season is over”

“Just as soon as…”

The cycle never ends.  

I think if we're honest with ourselves, we don't know what we would do if we weren’t busy.

We don't know who we are without all the tiny things that we assign identity and value to.

When you live like this, do you feel like you're living an abundant life? Or do you feel overwhelmed as you run from one thing to the next, jump from one tab over to another, or say yes to yet another invitation? For many of us, the only “rest” we experience is dissociation in front of a screen.

I don’t point these things out to make us feel shame but to remind us that there is a better way. Jesus’ way leads to life and life to the full.

Jesus presents a different, radical model that says you don’t receive the abundant life in a once and done transaction. We have to commit to patient endurance over time, not just a retreat high or a powerful moment of prayer. It’s a deep abiding way of walking with Jesus. Patient endurance is really a way to say “Jesus I trust in you.”

Matthew 11:28 says “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden. I will give you rest, take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

When I made the decision to take a rest, I was weary. I had spent hours in tears over the weight of my job and the burden was heavy. I didn’t have joy in my work or in my day to day. I was going through the motions. I was alive but not much more. I was weary. In the midst of my weariness, Jesus promised to give me rest. He is a God that keeps His promises.

Notice that Jesus doesn’t say “I will give you rest, take my blankie upon your shoulders.” He says take my yoke. Yoke means work. Jesus is calling you into a life of carrying His yoke. That’s where the endurance part comes in.

When I took the time off it took everything inside me to not check my work email, respond to a text, or do anything else that came with work. I had made a choice to be with Jesus. Week after week I made the decision to be obedient to what God had asked. What initially seemed impossible for me to do on week 1 became much easier by week 6.

When I slowed down and took on what He was asking of me, I gave God space to transform me. My physical burnout was lessened, but even greater was the work He did in the part of my heart that was grasping for control. He transformed me and showed me that I can trust Him. The transformation that God wanted to do in me couldn’t have been accomplished without patient endurance.

Dallas Willard says “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning.” Taking that step back took effort. I had to choose to not give into the temptation to check my email. I had to choose to let God into the areas of my life that were weary and burdened. I had to let Him transform me from the inside out.

Jesus is calling you to live His life. He is calling you to a life without hurry and with more time spent in patient endurance. To take on Jesus’ yoke means to apprentice in His way of life. An apprentice is a learner, they don’t start their apprenticeship with complete knowledge of what they are doing. Instead, they look at the master with desire to become more like them. Jesus doesn’t expect you to be perfect right way. He asks you to commit to His way of life and, over time, be transformed.