As we traverse this valley of tears, it is the unique ability of man that he quite easily becomes sidetracked from all that is important in life. The many other creatures of God's creation seem to be steadfastly attuned to what is important to them. Dogs become incredibly focused on the matter at hand when it is time to go out for their walk. Birds rarely forget to eat. Cats do not often failed to bathe themselves, because this seems to be what is most important to a cat. Animals only fail to give priority to what is important to them when they are sick, and I guess in this way man is not much different. But what makes man unique is that he seems to be constantly sick, and thus he seems to constantly neglect those things that are most important in his life.
It is incredibly easy for him to become absorbed in things of very little importance, while losing sight of all that really matters. For instance, it is very easy for me personally to become absorbed in being a worker, and lose sight of being a disciple/ husband/ father. It is a constant struggle of mine that I continue to think about work when I have gone home for the day. I go over what happened during the day in my head, and I dwell on what is to be done tomorrow. And all the time I lose sight of being a husband and a father; two roles that are far more important than the job I perform from nine to five.
From speaking with other men, this seems to be a common temptation. In some sense, it is easier for us men to think about work than to think about home. It is easier for us to think about a world that is centered around personal control and regularity, instead of thinking about a world centered around abandonment of self and individual intricacies. For the world of the home really is one that centers around the often surprising realities that are individual human beings. It is this, above all I think, that leads men to the temptation to stay at work in their mind's eye. It is much easier to deal with accounting, teaching, lesson planning, editing, or writing than to actually engage and live with an individual. Work does not demand that we come out of our comfort zone, but family surely does.
Of course, the experience of being distracted from the more important things in life is not unique to the working man. Every person, no matter their occupation, experiences the distraction of being worried about their work. The working woman worries as much as the working man. The stay at home mom and stay at home dad each worry about the long list of things that need to get done around the house. Even the retired worry (or so I'm told). All human beings, at one point or another, allow their "to-do lists" to weigh them down.
But the solution to this temptation is simple, though often overlooked. Our Lord Himself gave us the solution when He spoke to "all you that labour, and are burdened." For, when He spoke of the laboring and burdened, He was primarily speaking of a spiritual reality. He was speaking of the reality of being burdened in thought, and laboring in anxiety. His solution to these problems was "Come to me." By going to Him, He promises us that we will be refreshed. We will be refreshed through the miracle of grace. We will be refreshed because what is most important is made most important, namely Jesus, and what is least important is made least important. We find rest in Christ, and this rest acts as an end in itself and it also refreshes us in such a way that we are made capable of continuing on with our labors.
This solution to "seek ye first the kingdom of God" (Mt. 6:33) is best lived out in prayer. We must commit ourselves to frequent prayer through out the day, raising our hearts to God so that He might refresh us. Often, prayer is the last thing we want to do. We want to accomplish our checklist, and prayer is seen as getting in the way. But we must remember His plea to "come to me", otherwise we will always remain the laboring and burdened.
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