Yawn! I need a nap. Or maybe I just need some more coffee!

I went to bed last night at 11:30 pm and got up at almost 6 am this morning. Most of my friends know I am NOT a morning person, which may be why they never come over to my house when I post on Facebook that the coffee's brewing and it's free to anyone who needs the caffeine fix to start their day. They probably would rather talk to me when I've had enough coffee in me to sound like an intelligent human being. But I wanted to get to the gym early this morning and walked in at 7:30 am, after having my fill of coffee and breakfast and ready to get a good workout in before I showered off and headed to my small group Bible study at 10:00 am at church and then back home to eat lunch and complete and submit an article I'd been asked to write for a local weekly newspaper. Now, after enjoying the fellowship at church, eating lunch, emailing the article and accompanying photos, doing two loads of laundry, getting several phone calls, bringing in the mail, and wondering what to make for dinner, I sit here staring at the clock that says it's 5:25 pm and realize I'd rather crawl back in bed to take a nap than open up the refrigerator and cabinets and start cooking. I'm yawning and dreaming of my nice, warm blankets instead of a nice, hot dinner or another cup of coffee! But when I wake up, it doesn't always mean I'll feel well rested. 

But I'm not sure Jesus was talking about a nap when He said, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls," in Matthew 11:28-29. That's why I'm so surprised these verses from the New Testament popped into my head when I started yawning. Reading the verses really made me wonder what Jesus meant by rest, especially when He said to take his yoke and learn from Him how to rest because he's gentle and lowly in heart. 

The truth is, a cat nap will allow me to get a little extra sleep so I'm alert enough to go to New York City tomorrow. But I'm not going to see a Broadway show, eat dinner at Hard Rock Cafe, walk around Times Square or even visit the World Trade Center site to pay my respects to the victims of September 11th. I'm actually going for a follow-up doctor visit at the Hospital for Special Surgery on the Upper East Side of Manhattan along the East River. It's been 11 months since I had spinal fusion surgery on November 2, 2012, just a few days after Hurricane Sandy ripped many homes and businesses to shreds up and down the east coast.

Prior to surgery, I had suffered with immense back pain for almost three years when I found out I'd need spinal fusion to correct congenital scoliosis. I'd been born with scoliosis, but my spine curved at a 75 degree angle and twisted around underdeveloped vertebrae. Though I'd been to countless doctors and had numerous tests done, surgery became my only option, and I was happy to find a doctor at the hospital in Manhattan who would operate on me when no other surgeon in the Lehigh Valley would dare to try it. And as lonely as I felt during the two weeks I spent in the hospital with just my family and one of the pastors visiting me, I was much happier to come back to Bethlehem and spend a few weeks at Moravian Village receiving in-patient physical therapy to help me walk better and where more people could visit because I was closer to home for them. I was even happier when I came home and could finally get a good night's sleep in my own bed!! 

I had done outpatient physical therapy in February and March at Coordinated Health and feel good enough to work out at my gym again and start looking for a job. And I am glad to say I am pain free and that the minor muscle tension I have will go away over time. But while I truly believe Jesus gave me physical rest and relief from my pain (especially because he needed he same things while he was on earth,) I thank Him for the spiritual and emotional rest he gave me before and after I had spinal fusion. I thank God for sending me others who'd been through similar surgeries to encourage me and offer hope and prayer.

I thank God for the verses in the Bible like Matthew 11:28-29 to remind me that God heard me cry myself to sleep every night for three years and still allowed me to sleep enough and be strong enough to endure a 12 hour surgery.  

And I thank God for the rest from my heavy burden of feeling like my back had been crushed in a vice, because I'm now in a position to give others the hope I have found. My friends who have asked me to pray with them or bring them dinner are grateful I could be their cheerleader, just as I was grateful for the friends who became my biggest cheerleaders.

Most importantly, I am grateful that the yoke of Jesus is truly lighter than mine, because I realized that I still have a lot to be thankful for even if I had not been able to have surgery. 

Rest. It's a simple word. But to many, it's an elusive concept, even though we understand Webster's dictionary definition of it. In our non-stop, 24-hour, hot rod American culture, I think we've lost sight of what rest really means. It's more than just a cat nap, 40 winks, or 8 hours of beauty sleep. It's about knowing there is hope and comfort in asking God and others to help us carry heavy loads our backs aren't strong enough to carry on our own. 

A few chapters later in the gospel of Matthew (chapter 27 verse 32), Simon of Cyrene is compelled to help Jesus carry the cross up the hill to His crucifixion on Calvary. The cross had become too heavy for Jesus to carry after being beaten by the Roman soldiers, so Simon helped Jesus carry it whether he wanted to or not. But unlike Simon, Jesus begs us to let Him carry burdens we're not able to. The Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 6 verse 2 that when we help carry another person's burdens, we're fulfilling the law of Jesus and following His example. I've heard it explained that while we're carrying our own load of going to work or making dinner or picking up groceries, it's like carrying our books to school and it's easy enough that we can handle it without help. But when we're helping a child to understand math problems they're stuck on or bringing someone dinner who can't make their own food anymore, we're helping that person to carry a burden that's as heavy as a load of bricks and can no longer be carried alone.

I won't embarrass anyone by mentioning their names, but you know who you are if you've carried my burdens or allowed me to carry yours. In helping each other find the rest that Jesus promises us, I've been so blessed to find true friends like you to be the hands and feet of Christ. After all, He carried the cross for us, and that made my own back pain seem like a headache compared to Jesusdying on a cross for my salvation from sin.