You Cannot Give What You Do Not Have!

Matthew 11:28-30--"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."  (NIV)

Today, I awakened with a thought; You cannot give what you do not have!

And was reminded of a devotional I wrote on August 3rd:
"Some mornings I awake full of faith ready to conquer the day. Other mornings I awake and the fullness of the day seeks to conquer my faith. Every morning, I awake I know uncertainty awaits. I hear voices (in my head) assault my inadequacies; I hear countless accusations of unworthiness...AND...I KNOW I must make the conscious decision to align my thoughts with God's. How about you? 

In Mark 6:30-31: "The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."  (NIV)

As leaders (and you are a leader) we must find a place to retreat with Jesus, often! Where else will we be nourished, truly ? How else can we find true wisdom? How can we possibly maintain Christ's mindset unless we spend time in His presence; NOTHING is more important.

"Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."

How about it, friend? Have you taken time to get away to a quiet place? Need rest? Today, how will you respond to Jesus' invitation?

What I find fascinating about the story behind the apostles' testimony...is how unmoved Jesus is about their accomplishments. I can just see it... (Here are my thoughts of what the apostles might have shared.)

"Lord, you shoulda' seen it! John laid hands on a man and the man stood up and walked. Peter cast out a demon. And James... Oh, James spoke your name and as he prayed a man saw for the first time... Matthew taught a lesson on tithing...check out the overflow of money in our cash box... And, Jesus, you gotta hear this; Thomas shared your message of The Kingdom of God is at hand!  and 1,000 men decided to follow you." ... And, how did Jesus respond? ... "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."

• I was captured by the phrase "By yourselves." Jesus invited them to leave it all behind... the accomplishments... the success... their burdens... You see... Jesus wasn't impressed by their acts. He was concerned for their well being. We cannot give what we do not have. And, all that we have comes from God. Our strength... Our hope... Our very breath is a gift from God, that's sustained by Him. Friend, there is NOTHING we can do that will make God love us more and there is NOTHING we can do that will cause Him to love us less. 
• The second part of Jesus' invitation was "Come away to a quiet place." WHEW! Tall order, eh? What is a quiet place? Seems like a foreign concept in our culture. More than just an absence of NOISE... Jesus invites the apostles (and each one of us) to a place of silence. He invites us to a place where we resist the incessant assaults of what we need to do or the constant considerations of what we have done...He invites us to put down the cell phone. Shut off the TV. Turn off Facebook...He invites us to a place where we can enjoy the peaceful surrender of sitting in His presence. That quiet place invokes our ability to listen for and hear HIS voice. Personally, I NEED QUIETNESS. Often times, when I enter prayer, it takes a moment to silence the voices. I constantly catch my thoughts drifting to unwanted places, like: I have to contact with... I need to remember to... Oh, I have to go and get...The discipline of going to a quiet place allows me to accept God's invitation to...Shush away all those thoughts. Come away with, Julie. Let me speak to you. Let me instruct you. Let me fill you again with my presence. Let me refine and align your purpose with mine. You are carrying weights I never intended for you to carry.
• So, why should we draw away? Why do we find a quiet place? Why does God invite us to slip away with Him by ourselves? Because in that quiet place...in that place of hearing His voice...in that place He refines our purpose and lifts our burden...And, ONLY in that place...do we find rest. Jesus invites us to slip away with Him because He desires that we find rest!

Friends, we need to be careful; if we fail to come away with God to a quiet place and find rest, it's quite likely, the very promise and purpose God has for our lives will consume us.

When Jesus saw so many people coming and going that the apostles did not even have a chance to eat, He knew that if they weren't careful...they would be consumed.

We need to ask: What consumes us? Has the promise and purpose of God for our life become a drudgery, an intense, overriding, overwhelming, overshadowing obligation? Is our the mission destroying us physically, emotionally, and/or spiritually? Do we awake with fear? Guilt? Or feel as though we lack the strength to continue? If so, I believe Jesus extends the same invitation..."Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."

PRAYER: Father, we desperately need to hear Your voice. Unmuddle the mess that clouds our ability to clearly see and hear You. Speak over us and shower us with Your presence. Help us to hear clear instructions. Remind us of and fill us with Your love. Help us to quiet everything that we might experience ALL of You. Help us to find rest for our souls.