Rest in a weary world

A man following a small truck noticed that about every mile the truck would pull over and the driver of the truck would jump out with a baseball bat and pound on the side of the truck. The man followed the truck until finally he couldn’t hold back his curiosity any longer. When the truck stopped again, he pulled up and asked the truck driver why he was beating his truck with a bat.
The guy looked at him with this weary expression and said, ''I have a half-ton truck and a ton of chickens and I have to keep half of them flying at all times.''
Have you ever felt like that? Do you ever feel like you have to keep half the chickens flying in the air at all times?
We're living incredibly fast-paced lives. Our daily activities have increased. Our ''to do'' lists just keep getting longer. Technology has grown so fast we can't keep up with it. We’re always on the grid so to speak. The explosion of entertainment options available to us has opened more doors to more leisure activities which only adds to our busy schedules.
Additionally, if you are an average adult, every day your heart beats 103,689 times. Your blood travels 168 million miles. You breathe 23,040 times, inhaling 438 cubic feet of air. You eat 3¼ pounds of food and speak 25,000 words (some of a bit more!). You move 750 muscles and exercise seven million brain cells (some of a bit less!).
Ever have days when you just don't have a lot of energy? Now you may know why. Always being connected, occupied and busy has its downside. Something has to give and it usually does. Most of us know what it means to be overdrawn.
If we overdraw our checking account, we can experience financial, emotional and mental stress that comes from the deficit.
It’s also possible to get overdrawn in life. We can get overdrawn in our marriage, overdrawn with our kids, overdrawn with our parents, overdrawn in our job, or just overdrawn with what’s happening in our lives and we just run out of the spiritual, mental, relational, and emotional currency we need to cover our life's bank account when we hit the wall.
Even more of us are tired because we worry too much. Our body feels tired not because our bodies have been too active, but because our thoughts have been in overdrive dealing with fear, anxiety and stress.
Let me give you some Good News. There is One who loves us very much who will take our burdens upon His shoulders if we will trust Him. There is One who will give us rest for our weary souls if we go to Him. We have the answer in our hands. We’ve had it all along.
The invitation and promise that Jesus made still applies today: “Come to me all of you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Come to me all who are burdened and exhausted, and stressed-out, and I will give you peace and comfort and strength.”
When you have tried everything else and you have run out of options and when you have no other place to turn (or even before you’ve tried everything else), hear the invitation of Jesus: “Turn to Me.”