In my calling as Romford Stake Young Women President I get to travel around the wards in the Stake giving talks. I tend to repeat them (different audience each time) so they are honed and improved with each outing, and then retired once the whole stake has heard them.
I thought rather than abandon them, it might be nice to have somewhere to put them out to pasture, so this is a talk I did in late 2017.
I thought rather than abandon them, it might be nice to have somewhere to put them out to pasture, so this is a talk I did in late 2017.
That hundred-mile-an-hour life isn’t healthy, mentally or physically, and really we should be prioritising our wellbeing, not saying yes to everything, and deliberately making the effort to drop someone of the things which are tiring us out.
As I read through the New Testament I'm struck by how busy Jesus always was. It seems there were always crowds pressed around him, so much that they had to lower people through the roof to reach him, people had to climb trees to see him, and when the woman with the issue of blood touched the hem of his garment hoping to be healed, and Jesus asked “Who touched my clothes,” the disciples pointed out “Thou seest the multitude thronging thee?” There always seem to have been crowds around Jesus.
Mark chapter 6 has lessons for us about managing our exhausting lifestyles. Here’s some context. Chapter 5, the preceding chapter, is the one where Jesus asked who touched him, and the disciples comment that everyone is touching him. So at the beginning of chapter 6 Jesus tries something different. He goes home.
Preaching in his hometown proves tricky, though. He doesn’t get on too well because they’re all just saying “That’s the carpenter’s son, we know him”. So he does something new. In verse 7 “He called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth two by two and gave them power.”
He also gives them instructions on what to do. Verse 12 says “they went out, and preached that men should repent.” So the disciples are basically going out in twos, and preaching repentance, and using the priesthood power and authority where necessary, just as our missionaries do today.
Verse 6 tells us that while the disciples were doing as they were instructed, Jesus himself “went around the villages teaching”.
What does this have to do with us being busy? It tells us several things:
1. When something wasn’t working, Jesus stopped doing it. He also told his disciples the same thing – check out verse 11.
2. He delegated to others.
3. Even though he’d delegated to others, he didn’t cease putting in the effort himself.
Then later, in verse 30, they gather back to Jesus to report on what they’ve been doing. That’s good delegation, where you trust the person to get on with the task you’ve given them, but you still ask them to report back and have people in place to supervise them.
Think about how these lessons might apply to you.
Is there something you’ve been doing which is taking up a lot of your time but isn’t having the desired result, or a good result? It may be that you just need to change the way you do that thing in your life that isn’t working, but it may also be that you need to not do it any longer.
Are you trying to find time to read your scriptures in the evening and falling asleep? Maybe change your study time to the morning. Are you trying to find time for a club, group or society which you no longer enjoy? Maybe it’s time to bow out.
Jesus delegated. My husband frequently encourages me to delegate, especially giving chores to the children, but I’m one of those people who imagines that they can’t possibly do the job as well as I could. I’m probably right, but that doesn’t matter that much. Maybe I need to take a leaf out of Jesus’s book. Give them careful instructions, trust them to get on with it, but also have them report back.
Finally, even though he’d delegated to others, Jesus didn’t cease putting the effort in himself. His disciples went round preaching, but so did he. I think my children would take a dim view of me delegating chores to them, and then not doing any myself.
Let’s move on to verse 30 where the disciples report back to Jesus, “both what they had done and what they had taught.” Jesus knows that they are physically and mentally tired and wants them to rest. He says “Come ye apart to a desert place, and rest a while.” They haven’t even had time to eat.
He cares about his disciples enough to know that they need rest. He wants to take them somewhere far away from the crowds to somewhere they can have some peace. Unfortunately, as you’ll see from verse 33, it doesn’t work out that way because the people figure out where they’re going and go there too. There really is no getting away from the huge crowds.
The disciples are really tired by now, and in verse 36 they make the perfectly reasonable suggestion that they send the people away to get food. The people have nothing to eat, and the disciples need to rest, so it seems like a good idea that they should leave for a while to find food. But even though Jesus is tired too, he “was moved with compassion towards them” and so instead he miraculously feeds them all.
So what does this section teach us?
First, it’s okay to rest. Jesus recognises that we’re tired and he wants us to rest. It’s fine to take time out just for yourself. Sometimes we all need to “come ye apart to a desert place and rest awhile” otherwise we might just come apart. Jesus wanted his followers to rest and recharge somewhere peaceful, and if you’re his follower he wants you to rest too.
Second, however weary we are, we should never be too tired to show compassion. You may have heard of “compassion fatigue”. This is something experienced by those involved in helping others in desperate states, such as nurses and aid workers, but also by all of us, to some extent. It means that there are so many tragedies, traumas and trials pulling on our heartstrings that after a while we become inured to it, hardened, and it no longer has the same effect. We cease to care, because we have, I suppose, exhausted our quota of caring. Compassion fatigue is an almost inevitable result of the information age.
Jesus was surrounded by huge numbers of desperate people. People who were sick. People whose beloved children were dying. People who were blind, or crippled. He healed all he could, and when it came to this crowd that were disturbing the peace he sought for his disciples, he “was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd.”
Although Jesus was tired, his compassion wasn’t. As exhausted as he was, he ministered to these people, recognising what they needed, and giving it. As tired as we may be, we can still do our best to feel compassion for others – even if we can only muster it for those immediately in our own environment – and to do what we can for them.
Let’s recap a little, and see how the lessons of Mark chapter 6 apply to our frenetic 21st century lives.
First, don’t waste your time on something that’s not working.
Second, delegate wisely where possible. Give guidance, and ask the person to report back.
Third, apply yourself to the task too. Asking others for help is one thing, but don’t forget to do the work yourself.
Fourth, rest is important, and you shouldn’t apologise for needing it, or try to manage without it.
Fifth and finally, never let yourself get too tired to have compassion on others.
Just a few short verses in Mark 6 teach us so much about how to manage our lives in the busy age we live in. Let’s all try to change those conversations about how busy we are, and remember to find time to rest. I testify that as you do so, and focus on what really matters, you will not only find rest, but also peace.
