Previously I spent time writing about what it meant to be like Jesus. After all we’re called Christians which means Christ like, so what does Christlike mean? What was Jesus really like?

I investigated several aspects of Jesus life:  How he was an example of studying and knowing the word of God, how he used the word of God actively as a part of his ministry, how he loved and valued not only the significant but every single person, significant and insignificant alike and he treated them the same. How his approach to both groups demonstrated that there is no difference in Christ eyes, he loved them all. How Christ was an example of humility. Although he had every reason to be proud and receive acclaim, he didn’t seek it. Instead, he sought to bring glory to his father. 

As amazing as these lessons are there’s still much more to learn from Christ. Today I went to look at one more thing that we should learn from Jesus. Jesus knew that we needed to rest.

As much as Christ promoted ministry and serving others, he also demonstrated to all of us that the wellspring from which we pour from has to be refilled. It’s important to take time to retreat or rest, times to pray and meditate on God. There were nine different times in scripture that Jesus retreated away, and it was called out. When he went in the desert to fast and pray for 40 days before beginning his ministry. Rest for preparation.

 In Mark 1 after an exhausting day of ministering to so many Jesus got up early and left the house to go find a solitary place where he could pray. In Luke it says, “then Jesus ordered him, ‘don’t tell anyone but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.’ Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Or in mark 1:45 “instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.” 

When Jesus went about healing people and ministering, he became popular. Almost a celebrity at least in those villages. People desperately seeking healing and seeing Jesus as the source begin to become a drain. Christ didn’t resent them for it. He understood they had needs. However, Christ had a need too. He needed to rest. He needed to be away from the crowds. Remember he was humble if he was seeking his own glory he would have just went and walked about in the towns seeking attention and even profiting from the healings however he withdrew away. He wasn’t filled up by people’s admiration of him, he was refueled by time with God. He demonstrated to us the importance of humility and quietly resting/retreating away from the attention of others. 

He understood that in order to continue to minister, he would have to take the time away to refuel and rest and honestly to keep perspective. This happened again and again throughout his ministry.  For example, when the 12 returned, before he fed the 5000, after he fed the 5000, and after healing many.

As believers we are called to serve others, yet Christ showed us the proper way to serve. You fill up and are restored with times of refreshing from God, then you go out and share that love, and then you retreat and refuel again. This is the proper cycle of worship and serve as a Child of God. Our rest is also an act of worship and just as important as our service.

Christ not only rested to connect to the vine and refuel between ministry opportunities and serving, but he also retreated away to grieve. After Jesus heard that John the Baptist was beheaded, he withdrew by boat away privately to a solitary place. Recently a friend of mine told me that their work gave them three days for bereavement leave. I was floored that that was all that would be provided. You can’t grieve and process the death of someone so close to you in just three short days. Most of the time that’s barely enough time to arrange services or gather loved ones to come to the service. Here we see that in Jesus’s life he had loss that he experienced, the loss of people he loved. He demonstrates that during times of grieving that you should rush to rest, process, and receive comfort from God. You take time away from ministering and service to not only shore up your strength in situations where you are getting tired but also to receive healing and comfort in times of distress and loss. We don’t just rest from work, sometimes we rest from grief, pain, and struggle. God can be that place for us just like Christ demonstrated.

There was one more time that Jesus went to be alone although this time he went with friends. In preparation for what was to come, the cross, Christ went to the garden to pray. This was Christ taking rest in order to prepare for what was to come. In the same way when we know that there are times that are going to be difficult to walk through or painful even, we can do the same. We can rest and retreat to God in preparation for those moments as Christ demonstrated for us.

So, we can rest before, or we can rest after. We can even rest during. Christ showed us all of these. He demonstrated the importance of taking that time away to alone and connect with God.  He modeled how to receive relief, spiritual refreshing, healing, and strength in God’s presence, in the quiet and stillness and alone.

Do you prioritize stealing away to a quiet place? Do you realize that as a believer you should? If you don’t already, I challenge you again today to be like Jesus. To choose to rest. To rest in preparation, to receive refreshing, to find comfort, to shore up your soul for what’s to come.  I challenge you to run into the loving arms of your heavenly father who is waiting to enfold you in his love with comfort and peace if you would just still away and find time to be with him. There is a God who loves you as a beautiful worship song declares. He does long to wrap you in his arms. And in that place, in his arms we are changed and healed and restored. Yet we cannot be renewed and refreshed, and he cannot wrap us in his arms if we do not stop and draw close to him. Retreat, walk away from everything for times of rest with God. 

Why do you think Jesus was so strong? He stayed connected, he stayed rested when he needed to, he sought the source to be renewed, and you can be like him and do that too. There are times of refreshing and healing waiting for you, you just have to take them.