The Constant Oasis — Broken & Hopeful

Do you ever feel burned out? Like you’d just like to pack up and run away from your life? Maybe it’s work, or maybe it’s the kids, the marriage, the bills, the house issues, the health problems, the recovery from trauma. It kind of feels like a little kid running to hide under the covers to protect them from the monsters in the closet—it probably won’t really change anything to run away, but it feels like it might be helpful somehow.

I feel that way sometimes. I want to hide from the parts of my life that feel too hard, too painful, too much work. Hiding doesn’t fix them, but at times it feels like the only way to deal with it all.

The communication from the world is generally—keep going, don’t quit. The communication from the church sometimes is—keep working, don’t let anyone see you are hurting. The communication from our own selves is—keep trying, your worth is tied up in not quitting.

But I think all these voices are wrong. Listen to what Jesus says:

“Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Come to me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis. Simply join your life with mine. Learn my ways and you’ll discover that I’m gentle, humble, easy to please. You will find refreshment and rest in me. For all that I require of you will be pleasant and easy to bear.” Matthew 11:28-39

And another favorite translation in the Message:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

When I read these verses, my soul cries, “Yes!” I’m weary, carrying a heavy burden, burned out on religion and everything else. So, what do we actually do?

First, we come to Jesus. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? So often, though, there are a million things in the way of us coming to Jesus. Our pride, our feelings of failure, our standard (the one that’s higher than God’s, by the way), our lack of focus, our anger, whatever it is that blocks us from just coming to He who loves us—we get to ask Him to push these away so we can simply come to Him. I don’t think it will necessarily make sense at the time, but we will see these obstacles become less and less impacting as we start to believe that God shows up no matter what we think will limit Him and His love. Spoiler alert—nothing does!

Second, let Him refresh us and bring real rest by joining our life with His. That may mean recognizing we need to quit something because we aren’t called to it anymore, or maybe we are not called to a relationship or a person in the way we used to be or thought we were. Sometimes that’s hard to come to terms with, but necessary for us to enjoy God’s strength and provision to meet the relationship where He wants it, rather than where we think it should be.

Sometimes that means inviting Him to be whatever we need for each and every place that seems stressful and burned out. He is the God of the impossible, and that includes your impossible job, spouse, child, health crisis, house issues and recovery from trauma. None of this is too much for Him, and He wants you to join your life with Him so that you can rest even while moving. Yes, that seems like an oxymoron, but when you experience the oasis of Jesus within that you can drink from when you feel parched and dry, you can reapproach whatever life is bringing with refreshment and new life.

Have you ever been so thirsty that it felt like your throat was cracking and you couldn’t think about anything else but water? Maybe that’s how you approach your oasis in Jesus. That’s ok. He will satisfy and quench your thirst in a way you never can find in anything else. Come and drink. Come and be satisfied. Come and know rest in a way you have never known it before.

Third, learn the unforced rhythms of grace. This is one of my favorite phrases in the Message. Doesn’t it sound like a dance? Like walking with Jesus in a pleasant, easy way that demands nothing from you. But it is a learning curve—we don’t know how to do this automatically. Be patient with yourself as He teaches you what this looks like. Every day, ask Him to teach you the unforced rhythms of grace that carry you along with rest and peace in situations that are neither restful nor peaceful.

I find it interesting that this passage does not say that whatever caused the weariness or heavy burden is lifted or changed. Sometimes I think God does free us from it. But often, He frees us IN it. I read a quote that shook me from Vaneetha Risner the other day. She says, “While being delivered from affliction is a great mercy, being delivered by affliction is a greater one.” Read that again. I never thought about being delivered BY affliction. I want it to be dealt and gone. But God can provide rest in the middle of whatever situation in which we find ourselves burned out and weary.

So, if you are burned out and sick of it, come to Jesus, allow Him to refresh you and draw you into rest, and learn the unforced rhythms of grace. Let God lead you in the way of rest, finding peace IN the circumstance, not just when you get out of it.