Give it a Rest! It's Okay.

I read a friend's Facebook status and caught myself in thought... Not the greatest though but I still thought I'd share it today.  All I really read of the status was "I'm into that paying-it-forward thing..." I though, "yeh, right... Me too... Pay-it-Forward to the government, my boss, my friends, my family... I'm paying-it forward, alright!" Of course the thought is a little tongue-in-cheek and I never feel this way long, the truth is I like to give... Okay, well maybe not so much to the government but I can take pride in my job when it's done well and I love my friends and family so I want to give to them not expecting anything in return.  But then I thought about you, what your thoughts would be... What if, like me, you give and you like to give, you do it with a cheerful heart... But what if you wonder sometimes if you will have anything left...

The thing is, you won't have anything left, you will get drained and your cheerful heart will shrivel into a heart of resentment. You will start just being tired, tired of pouring yourself out and gaining not even respect in return.  You will give and give and give and someday awake to realize you've put your own needs on the back burner so long you've burned away all of the substance.  You'll try to give someday and your hand will extend empty because there's nothing left inside... Or will you.  I normally wouldn't paint such a bleak picture in your mind but today, I think, it's needful... You must see what can happen if you never think about yourself...

I know, I know, we are raised (especially as Christians) to care for others more than ourselves, to give ourselves away for the cause of Christ... But we seldom remember Christ, himself took time alone, time with God, time to replenish... He did things He liked, He sat with friends enjoying a good meal and some laughter... He went to parties and stayed out late... He was always an example to others but He also made Himself approachable and "normal" as He could appear while healing blind eyes, cleansing lepers and raising the dead... I think that's why many missed their messiah, He was too human in their eyes to see the God inside.  People expected Him to come in robes of glory with servants and carriages, not to travel around in linen clothes and dirty sandals, borrowing a place to lay His head each night but Jesus came to seek and to save and to show us how to do the same.  Jesus knew some would miss out on the God inside of Him but chose to show His human side to be real just the same... Why would Jesus do that, how could He not make sure everyone knew who He really was? For you and I... For each moment we need a reminder that it's okay to get tired, it's okay to need something from God to help get you through the week, it's okay to take a break and have some fun with friends, it's okay to be "normal."

You see, Jesus has both given us permission to be human, to get tired, to have fun and laugh and even to just be alone and regain perspective after a busy, stressful journey and He showed us how to do it... That we can be fully human and still reflect the image of God to others.  We can be tired and weary, in need of a friend's hospitality and do so with grace and beauty.  Away with the notion we must float 5 inches off the ground and never be bent over with care, we must never tire and most certainly never show our inner supply is getting low! Don't crack a smile if someone tells you a joke and for heaven's sake don't get caught laughing and having fun! Never go to a sinner's home when they have invited you in for a dinner party, we can't have friendship with sin so we mustn't soil our spirituality with entering a home where sinners live... Reach for them, yes, but from your own turf. Never let anyone see the weakness of needing to replenish and refresh, we must go, go, go at any cost or we are not worthy to be called a true Christian... Where did we ever get those ideas anyway?!  To be Christian is just to be Christ-like...  And if He rested, if He accepted the hospitality of others, if He accepted invitations to dine with sinners and actually make himself so available and friendly they felt comfortable enough around Him to want Him there, if Jesus took time alone, if He spent time with God asking for help on the journey, if He laughed and had fun with his friends, if He appeared so normal then part of being a Christian is doing the same.  It's okay to take time for yourself, to laugh, to show yourself friendly to EVERYONE on their turf as much as on your own, it's okay to need God to get you through a rough spot, it's okay to admit you don't want to do something He's wanting you to do and to ask His strength to help you follow Him closely, not only is it okay, it's just as much part of being Christ-like as giving is... Because it's the only way you will not end up in the place I described before.

"After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone."

Matthew 14:23 (NLT)

"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed"

Luke 5:16 (NIV)

"After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.  As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 3“Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it." 

Luke 19:28-31 (NIV)

"Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said, “Go and prepare the Passover meal, so we can eat it together. Where do you want us to prepare it?” they asked him. He replied, “As soon as you enter Jerusalem, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. At the house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.” They went off to the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there."

Luke 22:8-13 (NLT)

Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon."

John 4:6 (NIV)

"By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work."

Genesis 2:2 (NIV)

"Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do..."

Matthew 9:10-12 (NLT) (in context).

"Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine."

Luke 22:42 (NLT)