“Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
- Matthew 11:28
Since the new year began, I’ve been spending some time on the treadmill at my city’s local rec center. In the past, when I could more honestly label myself a “runner,” I preferred running outdoors, but I’ve found that, at least for now, the treadmill is more suitable.
Here’s what I’ve learned to love about the treadmill: with a degree of accuracy I was never able to pull off running around the block, you can set the perfect pace for yourself. When things are leisurely and you realize you’re not even breaking a sweat, you can bump up the difficulty level a few notches. When your lungs start to burn, you can knock it back down. The treadmill will go exactly as fast as you tell it to–no faster and no slower.
I think we can all agree it would be nice if life worked that way, if with the press of a button we could speed some things up and slow other things down. We’d love to be in complete control of what happened to us and when it happened. Alas, we all have to muddle through knowing that some seasons will be more difficult than others.
But when those hard times come, God’s people are blessed by a promise from the Lord: you can come to him for rest. You don’t have to sink into despair, nor do you have to twist yourself into knots trying to do everything all at once. Jesus is with you.
In a world that sometimes moves impossibly fast, he offers perspective. In times when it feels like you’ve done nothing but hold on, he is with you in the waiting. Because unlike on a treadmill, there is room for more than just you in your struggles. The peace you seek doesn’t come by finding the perfect pace, but by finding the perfect Savior.
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