Wednesday, August 17 – Mark 6:31

And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a little while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.)

When you get wrapped up in a task, what is something that you easily bypass in your daily routine? For some people it is eating, for others sleeping, and for some it is other smaller tasks on the to-do list. There is something about becoming hyper-focused on a project that puts other things out of perspective. It is like when you focus on one object intently, everything else in the space becomes blurry and falls into the background. This can be helpful if you are trying to focus on one thing, but it makes it difficult to see anything else clearly.

When Jesus addressed His disciples with this invitation to come and rest, He saw their need. Regardless of their personality types, He recognized in each of them a need to take a break. This included a break even from doing good things—serving and teaching people. So often in life, we get busy doing good things. We work, serve our families, go to church, volunteer and so many other things, but we struggle to identify when to say it’s enough; when to take a break even if we are on the edge of running on empty. Jesus didn’t see this need for food and rest as an interruption to good work but as an essential component of the great work God was doing for the multitudes as well as the disciples. What is filling up your life right now? What things are you hyper-focused on that make it difficult to see anything else clearly? Take a moment today to rest in your heavenly Father and ask Him to show you where you need to step back or add in rest in your everyday life.

• What are some things in life that you have been caught up in recently? What would it look like to rest in God in that area?
• How do you respond when someone invites you to rest or pause for a meal with them during a busy moment or season?
• Pray and pause to rest in God for a moment longer than you normally would after reading this devotional. Thank God for this opportunity to rest in Him.