Come to me all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 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. Matthew 11:28-29
Have you ever had one of those days when nothing went right? When appliances break down, when you realize that four months is a long time between haircuts, when you want to go out to eat or to visit a friend, but that is just not possible? Some days I feel like whatever I do goes wrong. I try to bake bread, but yeast is nowhere to be found. I bake a cake that overflows the pan and not only is there charred cake batter remains in my oven to be cleaned, but the whole house smells of burnt baking. I get lonesome. People I know and love are in poor health and some have passed and I cannot visit. Frustration erupts. I sit down to do my Bible reading and my mind wanders. I start to pray, but there are times my thoughts stray.
I am currently visiting my grandson (and his parents) to help out while both parents are working from home, and both of us are undergoing some of those days. His Kindergarten days ended not with a bang but a whimper of a wave parade by the teachers, and a trip to the school to have the things that remained at the school shoved quickly through a car window by a masked teacher. Since then, he has had no other child to play with and Grammy is not a good substitute – sometime I will show you the video of me launching my aged, overweight body through the lawn sprinkler. It is NOT a pretty scene.
And yet, as we continue to wear masks and stay home and be frustrated, I remember that Jesus told us to love one another and to treat all others as we would want to be treated. And I know that going without a haircut is nothing at all like going without a paycheck. And being unable to visit is nothing like being terribly sick in a hospital where your family is not allowed to visit. Wearing that annoying mask is the very least I can do to help people avoid this sometimes deadly or debilitating sickness. Staying home, in a safe place with plenty to keep my mind and hands occupied if I just look around is a very small sacrifice. I look around this little Massachusetts town and everywhere I go on my daily outdoor walk, everyone is wearing a mask. People are carefully socially distant. I am encouraged that there will be an end to this. I do not know when. And I will admit that I still worry about children and teachers and other school people as plans for the fall are being considered. And I will admit that I am not especially patient about it.
Still, I hear Jesus when he tells us to come to Him when we are weary and carrying heavy burdens. He will give us rest. I believe that he will go with us into every situation, and will never ever leave us alone. Thanks be to God for His never ending love, mercy, and grace.
O Master, let me walk with thee
in lowly paths of service free
Tell me thy secret; help me bear
the strain of toil, the fret of care.
Pastor Rachel Moser
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