by David Scott Robertson
We’ve probably all heard the term, “nervous breakdown”.
Apart from some clinical or physiological problem,
I’m not sure the Christian,
Particularly the Spirit-filled Christian,
Ever needs to go there.
We hear a great deal about stress these days.
And if hearing is not enough,
We experience it first-hand on a daily basis!
Factors of Life that can be stress generators will inevitably come.
But there is a “Sabbath rest” available for the man or woman of God (see Hebrews 4).
Predictably, it’s found in Jesus Christ.
I was e-mailing one of my very dear friends this morning,
And I lifted the following quote from my message to him concerning stress:
“It’s interesting, how being knee-deep in doing Kingdom work sometimes adds some stress. Do you know what I think? I think that I sometimes wear ‘my yoke’ instead of Christ’s yoke. His yoke is easy and His burden light. Whenever I am not walking in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3) then there can be no other conclusion except that I am not keeping my mind stayed on Him. When it’s God, it’s not necessarily trouble-free or sacrifice-free, but it can be worry-free (Philippians 4:6-7). Please pray for me. Monica and I are enjoining our faith and targeting our prayers, that I might be able to ‘enter His rest’. No matter how busy I am, I still want to enter into Christ’s rest in my heart and mind. Being a paramedic or fireman for Jesus (figuratively speaking) should not put such a yoke on the worker that it robs our joy.”
I want to be transparent this morning and confess to you
That I sometimes allow
The heavy “yoke of David” to supersede the light “yoke of Christ”.
That’s not very spiritual but that’s where I live sometimes.
Taken to its extreme,
“…and everything that does not come from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23).
I believe we’ve got to be careful of how far we permit our minds
To dwell on the stresses of Life in general.
Keeping our eyes trained on Jesus,
Trusting in His unfailing love (Proverbs 3:5-6),
Believing wholeheartedly that our steps are ordained by God (Psalm 36:23),
Embracing the fact that all things are working together for our good (Romans 8:28),
Walking in faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7),
Rejecting this world’s yoke and embracing the cross (Romans 12:2),
I think therein lies not only the battle but the victory as well (1 John 5:4).
Today, even today, let us enter into Sabbath rest.
DSR, July 23, 1998