Rest for our Weary Souls

I'm here at Children's Hospital and a young mom with a special-needs child in a stroller along with two kids in tow, one of which has a break or fracture in her arm. I offer to push the stroller for her to the fracture clinic so she can attend to the injured one. She is obviously frazzled, weary of heart, soul AND body. I am reminded of Matthew 11:28-29 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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.” Matthew 11:28-29.

Rest for this mom may feel elusive. A radiology staff member stops by my desk, sees me reading. He says: "Aw. Reading your devotion?" He knows me and I know him. He asks me to pray for his wife: "She is taking her final exam tomorrow -- 90% requirement to pass. We are so excited that after that, we're headed out to church camp. We sure need this rest!" I love that! Church camp = rest! They are going for "soul" rest.

Sometimes the things that should make us feel rested..don't'. We may wake up after a restless night's sleep and our first thought is how early we can go back to bed tonight. Sometimes rest means just chillin' on the sofa to watch Wheel of Fortune but it doesn't make us feel rested because on that show someone wins $100,000 in a simple spin of a wheel, and we're needing just $500 to pay for a car repair. Dissatisfaction taps on our heart and the restlessness begins again.

Jesus invites us to a deeper rest -- a soul-rest! I love that He identified our "issue" of weariness without identifying how we got that way. His words and promise of rest applies to us -- no matter how we got so weary. But He wasn’t talking about physical rest; He was inviting us to a rest that is all-consuming. A rest we feel in our minds, bodies and spirits — this is soul-rest. And the only place we will find this rest is in Jesus. Soul-rest is deeper than any other kind of rest I’ve experienced. Soul rest is rooted in faith and confidence that we’re unconditionally and deeply loved, held safe in the arms of our Heavenly Father. Soul-rest comes when we trust God fully, which is quite different from merely saying we trust God. Words will not give us the rest our souls long for. Trust will.

God is utterly trustworthy. Each time I deliberately choose to trust God, fear loosens its grip on me. Anxiety recedes. Stress melts away. Worry doesn’t consume me. I am a different person than I was 10 years ago because of this soul-rest that comes from trusting Jesus. Today, Jesus invites all of us who feel worried and burdened, from whatever has made us feel overwhelmed, exhausted and guilty, to come to Him.

This is the message that will give each of us the abundant life Jesus offered. Not abundant with work, but overflowing with love and filled with the true soul-rest we long for. Lord, thank You for providing rest for our souls. Please help us fully trust You for that rest. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Psalm 23:1-3, “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.”

The Rhythms of Life and How They Ebb and Flow

Life is interesting, isn’t it? We go through different stages of life in what seems like a blink of an eye. After my sweetheart left for his heavenly assignment, the sweet rhythm of God’s grace and love had steady flow that kept me wrapped up in such peace and security. I had my family, church, church family, a home in a lovely community and the friends that went along with it. Sure there were ups and downs, but they came in and went out – like the tide’s ebb and flow. Beautiful rhythms.

Then the big change came for me when I moved from those comfortable rhythms in that season of life, to Texas where, honestly, I’m still endeavoring to establish some consistent rhythms again. I get it -- I've wandered for a while from city to city and church to church – store to store – street to street – looking for familiarity and a consistent rhythm.

Night before last, I went to bed feeling completely out of sync. But, during the night, I had one of those “King David” moments (1 Samuel 30:6) when he encouraged himself. I encouraged myself. I determined to give the worries to God and recognize that I can’t, but HE CAN! He tells us so in this scripture: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest (sweet rhythm) for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29.

I bounced out of bed yesterday morning with an empowered mindset. I took matters into my "rhythmic" hands that are empowered by God's strong and mighty hands and made some positive decisions. The best part, I realized I have the opportunity to use my faith to make those “walls of discomfort” tumble down by praising and thanking God for so many blessings. Philippians 4:6 “Don’t worry about anything, but in EVERYTHING, through prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Did He say EVERYTHING? Yes, and what’s so exciting is that we are told to come in confidence, knowing, with relief, that He loves us enough to want us there, right at His feet resting in His love and grace.

Most importantly, I got out of myself and into sharing God’s love and encouragement with a young tow truck driver (that's a story for another day) and an air conditioner technician (another story for another day) -- and was even able to pray with one to find his way back to God. It’s amazing how people open up when they sense "a rhythm" of God’s love coming at them.

Thank you, Lord, for the slow and smooth rhythms that are so sweet, but I thank You for even the staccato, disconnected rhythms – because more than anything I desire to be in sync with Your ebbs and flows – in tempo that connects me to your ways which are so much higher than my ways!