I’m not advocating lazing around all day, sipping coffee and nibbling crackers and cheese. In fact, it sometimes takes real discipline to rest rather than stress. As I write, my diary contains more tasks than I can realistically achieve. That’s not what Jesus called us to when he said “… I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me” (Matthew 11:28b-29a).
God has been gently enabling me to take on his yoke rather than my own this past week. It’s been a crazy patch, but thoroughly enjoyable. And that, I suspect, is part of what Jesus was talking about when he promised ‘rest’ even as he spoke about taking on his ‘yoke’.
Unprepared
I had intended to review my Tibetan lessons earlier. But it hadn’t happened. I only had two hours to cram before class. I sat down, spread out my books … and a knock sounded at the door.
It was a neighbour. For the past 2 ½ years, I’ve been saying to her, “Drop in for a cuppa.” And she chose NOW?!
I checked with a little internal voice. Then made coffee. My neighbour poured out her heart. All too soon, I had to walk out the door with her, say goodbye, and hurry off to class. Unprepared.
As it turned out, had I not confessed my lack of preparation to my teacher, I would have gotten away with it.
Changed deadlines
I had two big deadlines this week. The first was to read and reflect upon a most excellent but rather thick book (and the reflection would be assessed) before a class on Wednesday. The second was a translation project of over 4000 words due on Thursday. Although I’d been alternating between translation and reading for a while, late last week, a sixth sense told me to just work on the reading. I was looking forward to a friend’s arrival on Sunday – she would stay for a couple of days. I finished the reading before she came. As for the translation, I convinced myself that I would use every spare moment this week and then pull an all-nighter if necessary.
It was not necessary. On Monday, an email appeared in my inbox. “Due to the German Diakonie’s visit, I won’t need that translation until March 18th.” God bless the German Diakonie! It turns out they represent the social service arm of the German Protestant church, and so I say even more warmly – God bless them.
Listening to that little internal voice telling me to work on the reading first saved me a lot of stress. I even had time to go for a short walk with my visitor in a favourite spot in the hills nearby. And I suspect that God thinks I can’t pull and all nighter anymore anyway.
Broken tools
My printer was second-hand when I bought it last year in an effort to use up my stash of ink cartridges after the printer before that stopped working. I’ve been expecting its demise. But why did it have to fail on Wednesday evening?
On Thursday morning, I had a small group in the morning followed by a presentation to some influential people. I hadn’t prepared as well as I could have for either, but I had prepared. Yet when I went to print out my notes on Wednesday night, the printer skipped lines all over the page.
Because I didn’t have printed materials to follow, I was more flexible than usual. We had some special sharing in the small group. And I had sent through power point slides for the presentation, so it wasn’t entirely without structure.
The purpose of this week’s meandering is not to justify myself. Having reliable equipment is important. Preparation should be done early enough to swing with unscheduled changes. I need to set realistic goals and allow adequate time to achieve them.
The purpose of this blog post is to remind myself (and share with you, if you are reading along) that participation in God’s work is what matters. It’s not about ticking tasks off my ‘to do’ list. When I discipline my mind to remember this truth – when I take on Jesus’ yoke rather than get caught up in the angst of the moment – I am able to rest. Even in the midst of all the activity.
Just the same, I’m glad it is the weekend.