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Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 10:28 

It was the summer of 2020 when these words from Jesus penetrated my heart differently than they had before. Was it really true that Jesus was saying that I just needed to be weary and to be carrying heavy burdens to receive this rest? 

I was about to put this new question to the test.

The Summer of Recovery and Release

I proceeded to spend that summer sharing my weariness and heavy burdens with Jesus. It had been building for years, and I had hit a proverbial wall.

Recovery and release took the form of watching the rain as I sat on a lake’s dock, learning to walk and talk with God, releasing many, many tears, and trusting those closest to me to speak words of life and hope.  

I sang, I wandered, I wondered, I shared, I listened. I allowed life to arise in me slowly again. It was a summer where I re-learned that time with Jesus, whether it was walking, observing, reading, praying, writing, exercising, or being with family, came in many forms.

There was a rhythm of life that shifted in those summer months. It was a shift towards a rhythm that gave me life, “life to the fullest” as Jesus says in John 10:10.  

Shifting to a Life-Giving Rhythm

Almost two years later I’m still shifting towards this life-giving rhythm, and am grateful for the ways that I’ve watched God redeem and rescue me as I listen and follow him in this.

I am coming out on the other side with a sense of life that I have not lived or felt in years. One that is full of adventure, gratitude, presence, perspective and God’s hope breaking in. Not perfect by any means, but full.  

As Lent approaches Easter, I am reminded that this way of pursuing life is only possible because of what God has done through Christ. Death defeated forever, for everyone. Amen.  

Have you ever experienced a time of refocusing on what's important? Let me know in the comments below.

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