Prayer in the Night- Chapter 8
It doesn’t take much to get me into this line of the Compline – to give rest to the weary. I know weariness, oh too well! I know how my body aches for rest.
I also know the weariness of the mind, overwhelmed with information it can no longer sort through, looking for answers.
And it’s circular – the body makes the mind weary and the mind makes our body feel weary.
Tish reminds us, “Jesus calls the weary to himself. He does not call the self-sufficient…He calls those exhausted from toil, from just getting through the day. He calls those burdened with heavy loads, those weighed down by sin and sorry.” (104) We are vulnerable to collapse because of the burdens put upon us or we put upon ourselves.
So we cry out to God.
“Oddly, when Jesus calls the weary to rest, he also calls them to a yoke – an instrument of work, not rest…He offers his followers a different yoke – his. He says that his yoke is easy and light…In our weariness we are called to rest, but we are also called to learn, to be taught by one in authority. There is no yokeless option…Jesus’ yoke is light not because he promises ease or success, but because he promises to bear our burdens with us. He promises to shoulder our load…Is Jesus enough?” (107,108)
There is no “yokeless option.”
We either collapse alone under our burdens, our over-scheduled lives, the fantasy of perfection, or we take on his burden with him with us.
Why is this decision so hard?
PS – Want to hear more? Please buy the book by Tish Harrison Warren, Prayer in the Night! I can barely scratch the surface in this short blog!
