Jesus didn't always help people

"Give everything 110%!!!"
Sorry, dude.  That's crap.  We're all pie graphs.  I am only one pie.
Yeah, but Jesus was always helping people.  Always preaching, always healing.
Wrong again.
He was pie graph too.
No, wait.  He was God, right?  He had like a wedding cake graph!
Nope.
This is the beauty of God coming to us in Jesus.  He really lived inside the limitations that we all have as human beings.
If you're like me and you have a heart that wants to love, wants to reach out to others, wants to make a difference, then you probably have the same tendency: to do MORE.
We have two cars.  When we first got them, I knew nothing about taking care of them.  I learned that I had to actually follow the little sticker that the mechanic puts on the windshield that says at such-and-such mileage, you need to bring the car in for an oil change.

If you don't...the car starts wearing down and eventually you're either faced with more expensive repairs, or smacked with the reality of a car that is dead.

Jesus apparently knew this too.  After a lot of hard work with his buddies he says to them, "'Come away by yourselves, and we will go to a lonely place to get some rest.'"  Grant it, in Mark 6, they get interrupted and end up feeding lots of people, but my guess is that this was the exception, and that resting, was the usual practice.

His, and his friends', 'cars' needed an oil change.  If you're always serving and taking care of others, but never yourself, you're not doing anyone any favors.  You're just limiting your ability to help others either because you'll be burned out or in a sour mood.

One way my wife and I refresh our spiritual lives is that we do retreats occasionally.  This past weekend, we gave each other a few hours on our own to just spend time with Jesus.  For me that looks like reading a mix of books that are encouraging me spiritually, journaling a bit, working on my autobiography, and just doing some relaxed talking to the Lord.  My wife journals a ton, and has been studying a book in the Bible.  It looks differently for everyone.  Just do what connects you.

These times are so refreshing because we get to reconnect with the Lord, and often feel like He speaks to us in special ways.  It gives us the Spirit-fed battery power to head back into the fun, and work, of loving each other, our kids, and others that God has placed in our lives.

So, has following Jesus looked like a lot of hard work lately?  Consider finding a lonely place and spending a retreat this summer.