Summer is upon us. The weather is warmer. School is ending. The normal week-to-week commitments of connection groups, school events, and other activities are coming to a halt. The vacations that felt far away now seem closer than ever. Oh what a time!

Summer is upon us. What a chance to break consistent spiritual rhythms and halt spiritual growth. What a chance to not read the Bible at all when you thought you would read it more on vacation. What a chance to rest, only to start next fall more exhausted. GOD, PLEASE HELP!

We’ve all been there. We’ve taken a vacation that we felt like we needed a vacation from once we got home: It was hot, the routines were off, the sleeping habits were broken, a dreamy vacation turned into a draining nightmare, and hopes for spiritual refreshment turned into a spiritual desert.

So how can you avoid a parched and spiritually-exhausting summer and, instead, have it be a season of rest for your soul?

In Matthew 11, Jesus reveals the key to finding an oasis of rest when he says, “Come to me, all 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

So how can you receive rest? Come to Jesus. How can you find rest? Take Christ’s yoke upon you. Don’t buy into the lie that summer will give you the much needed rest the other months out of the year exhausted. You might get that kind of rest, but it sure won’t come from a season. It will only come from Jesus, who is just as present and available during the summer as he is during the rest of the year.  

Veritas, don’t vacation to rest. Don’t binge-watch a show to rest. Don’t sit by the pool to rest. Come to Jesus, and he will give you rest! Take His yoke upon you, and learn from Him, and you will find rest for your souls. This summer, don’t unyoke yourself from Christ even when the season and rhythms change. Don’t stop learning from Him. 

When mowing the lawn, listen to worship music. When sitting by the pool, read a book about the Lord. When on vacation, read the Bible with your family if you choose not to wake up before they wake up. When your normal rhythms are upside down, persevere in coming to Christ.

It’s ok for your rhythms to change, but don’t trainwreck your faith by trying to yoke yourself to something else for rest. Don’t be yoked to a rhythm for rest. Take the yoke of Jesus. Rhythms help, but in and of themselves, they don’t provide rest. Don’t be yoked to fleeting pleasures for rest. Take the yoke of Jesus. Road trips, campfires, and lake days aren’t sinful, in and of themselves, but they don’t provide rest.

As I was writing this, my mind went to an old correspondence I had with a missionary acquaintance that has spent decades proclaiming the gospel in the Middle East. We were writing about the ultimate spiritual rest talked about in Hebrews 4:1-13, and this is what he said:

By way of background, Middle Easterners long for rest. Their lives are extremely exhausting. I had a university professor tell me a couple of days ago that it is hard to believe that I am 68 years old. Iraqis by 68 are done-for, exhausted shells of their former selves. The fact is that I too long for rest having lived for so long in this exhausting region, but it is cool to know that with all of my health problems and near-death experiences, a glimpse of God’s rest still shines through my life. During the war in Iraq, our Iraqi friends would come to our house to rest. They told us many times that our home was the only place where they felt rest. It was this rest, along with our faith that God will powerfully protect us, that still guides the faith that our Iraqi brothers live. They know that a rest is coming and they long for it and they hold onto it. They often tell me so. Every Arab Bedouin longs to rest in the oasis at the end of their dangerous desert trek, but it takes courage, discipline, hard work, persistence, and above all trust in the path that was laid out before them to enter that rest. What is true for the bedouin is true for the true believer.

Summer is upon us. May it be a time of spiritual growth and true rest in Jesus. Courageously seek Him. Be disciplined to seek Him when a normal schedule is gone. Work hard to seek Him. Persist in seeking Him. And above all, trust that coming to Jesus and taking on his yoke allows you to enter that rest. OH WHAT A TIME! GOD, PLEASE HELP US!