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.”

How Can We Lie Down in Green Pastures? They're Flooded

One of my go-to scriptures, especially when I’m encouraging someone who is bed-fast because of an injury or illness, is 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.” I share: “Obviously, God is wanting you to rest and lie down in His pastures (His place of restoration) so you can re-coup, be restored and refreshed. He knows your journey up ahead, and He knows what you need to go the long-haul.”

But, how can I say that to my family and friends in Oklahoma whose pastures are filled with rushing (not still) waters and even their homes are completely demolished by the tornadoes and flood waters that left little to hold onto?

Or how can I tell them to “get on the roller coaster and throw your hands up in the air and enjoy the ride” like I might say when someone is starting a long journey of medical treatments and procedures? I often describe our faith journey as a roller coaster ride -- twists and turns, and ups and down, and throwing our hands up in the air and enjoying the ride!! But, in the case of these life-altering storms, those rides are out-of-order entirely!

It’s easy to say to my precious friends and family: “Let go and let God! He is in control. Have peace in the storm! Only have faith and believe. God is for you and with you!” But I’m not in my storm shelter, hearing the storm warnings or bailing water out of my home or trying to find something of value in the remains that were left behind from the storm. My words, of themselves, are meaningless. But God’s words are life and God is life….even abundant life -- when we believe them in or out of the storm.

“I Will Praise You in the Storm” was a song written by Casting Crowns’ lead vocalist Mark Hall. It was inspired by the band's experience with a young girl who had cancer, Erin Browning. They met Erin before one of their concerts. Erin had performed a dance at her school to one of their songs. Erin died shortly after that. Hall said, "Watching Erin's mother walk through this really showed me the truth about my worship. Watching her walk through a real storm showed me that my worship was extremely situational". Hall began writing the song before Erin's death.

I, too, know devastating storms in my own life and praising God in the midst of those storms was my survival mode. The song and the lyrics, I know, will minister to those of you who have gone through recent storms or are right in the middle of them today. No matter the storms, we continue to praise our Lord because we know His promises are true and that He never leaves us. We glory in all He does for us in the storm:

I Will Praise You in the Storm
I was sure by now, God you would have reached down
and wiped our tears away, stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen; that it's still raining
As the thunder rolls, I barely hear your whisper through the rain, “I’m with you,”
And as your mercy falls, I raise my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away.
And I'll praise you in this storm, and I will lift my hands
That You are who You are, no matter where I am,
And every tear I've cried, You hold in your hand.
You never left my side, and though my heart is torn,
I will praise you in this storm.

Listen to this beautiful song and be assured that God is with you in the storm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoqbKyeKOBI

While we may not know what our future holds, today we can rest in the fact that we are known by the One who holds it and somewhere in the middle of that fact…..He promises to be working it all out for our good. (Romans 8:28).