I saw Joel Knapp, the other day. If you don’t know Joel, you’re missing out. He’s one of those guys who just makes me smile. I was working on a project as Joel was walking by, and I yelled a hello to him. He stopped and looked up at me. “Marty, how’re ya doing?” he asked, genuinely wanting to know. I told him, “I’m tired.” And I was. I’d been on the road for several weeks without being home for much more than a half a night’s sleep and turn around and head somewhere else. I was tired. Joel smiled, shook his head, and said, “Man, Marty. We bought and paid for this lifestyle.” How true. I’ve prayed and worked and done all I can to get to where I am, and even though I wasn’t really complaining, I realized that I do sometimes. Joel and I visited some more. He told me that he’d been sleeping in the sleeper of his truck for 61 days straight. That’s more than two months of sleeping in a truck. He’s been hauling cattle to rodeos all over the Northwest all summer, and he doesn’t slow down until the snow flies. Joel told me, “Man, Marty. I remember when I was growing up, I used to hate winter. The snow this high, ya know.” He held his hand out to his waist. Joel grew up in the Okanagan country, so snow was a fixture throughout those winter months. He didn’t get to play much, got to feed cows a lot, and he always found himself looking forward to summer. Joel continued, “Now, I love the winter. I get to go home. Man, that’s nice.” I could relate. We talked about where all we’d been lately. I told him I’d love some time at home. He agreed. Mary, his daughter was with him, but Joel hadn’t seen his bride in some time, either. Then he reiterated, “Man, we bought and paid for this life.” Isn’t it funny how what we love the most can sometimes be our kryptonite, too? We find ourselves complaining about the very thing that has made our dreams come true. I look at guys who are finally making the NFR for the first or twentieth time, and every one of them is so barn sour by the end of summer that they’re thinking they may hang it up. They miss their wives, their kids, their places. They miss having some semblance of a home. At least something more than a van or a living quarters horse trailer. We wish, work, pray and fight for something, knowing it’s the thing that will be our dream come true, and then when we get there, we realize it’s just another job. Maybe it’s more romantic, and it’s more enjoyable than sweeping floors in a feed store; but it’s a job. I had some visits with God, the other day. I was a little down about where I happened to be. I kind of thought I could do better, perhaps. God whooped me back into shape. He replayed the voice of a friend who had said the night before, “God has given you a gift, and I prayed that you would just be able to use that gift to touch people’s lives.” Wow. That was so true. I knew God was telling me not to bury my jar. He was telling me to invest, to come alive, to live big. Yes, it would tire me out. Yes, it would take me away from home. But you know what? I love what I do. I love it. I come alive when I do what I do. Whether that’s helping kids, speaking to crowds, or sorting cattle, I love it. We do all need rest, though, and Jesus is the only real rest. When we realize that this life and its pursuits will not give us that rest, it’s time to go to him. Actually, that time comes long before that. Regardless, Jesus wants to give us rest. He’s not selling happiness. He’s not selling dreams come true. He’s offering us rest. In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus tells us, “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." If we delight in Jesus, he will give us the desires of our hearts. However, those desires still have us in the world, and in the world we get tired. Not everything is perfect. We’ll lose heart. But Jesus invites us in. He gives us that winter time rest from the road.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 04:58:50 +0000
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