Come Away and Rest a While

“And [Jesus] said to [his disciples], “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” (Mark 6:31 [ESV])

As you return from a military deployment (or your spouse returns) it is important to realize that you have just endured a significant challenge.

Picture yourself completing a marathon. You have crossed the finish line after enduring 26.2 miles of running. What would you desire in that moment? I imagine (I imagine- because I’ve never run a marathon) that you would want some food and some rest.

Enduring a Military Deployment as either the deployer or the spouse of a deployer is the spiritual, mental, emotional, and maybe even physical equivalent to a marathon- or an ultra-marathon!

On top of all of that, there will be many internal and external factors encouraging you to just keep running. You will think, “I just did a deployment, surely I can do this as well.” Your military command will have endless tasks and missions awaiting your return. Your extended family will “just want to see you” because “it’s been so long since we got to see you.”

On top of all of that, you have missed so much! You will be tempted to catch up on all that you have missed while you have been in this season. Missing something is a cause for mourning- not chasing. And mourning is an invitation to rest.

I want you to hear Jesus’ words to His disciples: “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” (Mark 6:31)

I encourage you to take a moment to read the entire chapter of Mark 6 so that you can understand the full context of Jesus’ instruction to His disciples.

Why pursue rest? It is important to realize why Jesus sought rest and solitude for himself and his disciples. At the beginning of the chapter, Jesus sent his disciples on what we might call a missionary deployment. Later in the chapter, the disciples return.

In between the disciples’ departure and return, Mark tells the story of John the Baptist’s death and Jesus learning of it.

We see here that the disciples returned from challenging work, and Jesus was mourning the death of his friend. Hard work and grief are both quite valid reasons to pursue rest.

It is in this context that Jesus seeks rest for himself and his disciples.

You have endured both hard work and grief. Jesus invites you into his rest.

(In the event that you find you haven’t worked hard nor are grieving any losses over the deployment cycle, then you need to use this season to examine those realities in your life and seek the work and love that God has for you. Your Deployment Support Team should be able to help guide you through this process.)

The Pursuit of Rest Will Be Interrupted. In this story, Jesus is the incarnate Son of God. And he desires to get his disciples away to rest. And, in the short term, he fails in that mission. Why? Because there are real people who need real help. And because Jesus and his disciples exist to help people.

And so they allow the interruption so that they can continue to help people.

If Jesus was temporarily thwarted in his stated goal of rest for his disciples, it is important to know that your pursuit of rest and solitude will also be interrupted. You exist to love and help people. Life is still happening. Your attempts for rest will be interrupted, but don’t stop pursuing it. Jesus will lead you to it.

Jesus desires rest for you: Pursue rest and solitude so that you can hear from God.

• So that you can process the work that you have done.
• So that you can grieve that which has been lost.
• And so that you can gain godly orientation for the work that lies ahead.

Jesus’ Purpose for rest. The story I’m working through in this passage is Mark, Chapter 6. There are 16 chapters in the book of Mark. The work of Jesus and the work of his disciples is not done! Your work is not done!

The purpose of rest is to be ready for the work ahead!

The rest and solitude that Jesus desires for you is to prepare you for the good works that he has for you to walk in.

Pursue Rest and Solitude as You Process Your Military Deployment. My goal in this post-deployment journey is to provide you a couple of short articles to facilitate this type of processing. I want you to be able to process the deployment that was, and also process the life that is to come. I encourage you to continue this journey so that you can squeeze every ounce of God-given value out of this important season of your life.

If these general ideas of work and rest are something that you realize you need to work on, let me encourage you to engage in some reading on this topic as you continue your post-deployment journey. You can see my more general thoughts on this topic here.

I love you guys,

Brian O’Day

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