The speed of life.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
_Matthew 11:29-30


A friend approached me the other day and asked “How I was doing?” and “If I was keeping busy?” Now I know he was just making casual conversation and so I shrugged it off, but deep inside I resented the question. I wanted to answer that I had not been busy at all but had recently enjoyed the pace of my life and I wanted to recount to him the book I had been leisurely reading and mention a conversation or a small thing that had inspired me to reflect on something truly significant. I wanted to answer that way, but I knew it wasn’t true. Instead I said, “Yeah, pretty busy, but with good stuff.” I wanted to scream that busyness does not equal significance or satisfaction, so just stop it! And stick it to the man while you’re at it! But all I could honestly say was “yeah.”
In our culture we easily associate busyness with importance. If I am constantly hopping from one thing to the next only stopping to collapse into bed at the end of the day, then I must be valuable, I must be needed, I am busy therefore I am important. But this lifestyle begs the question “Is this all there is to life?” “Does this really satisfy my soul?”

Can you look back at the end of the day and know it was worthwhile?
Or are you just glad you survived?
Do you have the time to do the things that are important to you?
Are you free to be the person you would like to be?

Jesus talks about giving us rest, rest for our soul. That sounds good. He says that if we want it, we must learn from him. We see Jesus slow down and seek solitude even when everyone wanted a piece of him. He wasn’t afraid to say no. He even said no to things that were good to do, in order to do things that were great.

Do you need to keep busy in order in order to feel good about yourself?
What does this say about where you place your identity?

What does it mean to have rest for your soul?
Have you experienced this?

What can we learn from Jesus life about finding peace in our own?