Sometimes We Need A Break

And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.  And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while; for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.  And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.

Mark 6:30-32

The disciples had been hard at work, helping people and teaching people.  In fact, the Bible tells us that they were so busy with people “coming and going” that “they had no leisure so much as to eat.”  They were so busy that they didn’t even have time to stop and eat.  Have you ever been there?  I think we’ve all been there at one point or another.

Jesus handled this situation by telling them to “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while.”  Jesus told them to stop, to get away from everything and to get some rest.

God Himself rested on the seventh day of creation.  I don’t think that God actually “needed” to rest, as He is all-powerful.  But I do think that He was establishing an example for us to follow.  We can and should work hard at whatever we have been given to do.  “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.”  (Ecclesiastes 9:10)  We should never be lazy or shirk our duty.

But we also need rest.  Sometimes, we need to “come apart” and take a rest.  These disciples were doing a good work; they weren’t out wasting their time.  But they still needed to rest.  We hear much about working for the Lord (as well we should), but we also need to, as the disciples did, rest a while every now and then.  Sometimes we need a bit of a break or we will start to crack!