Rest
Rest has always been a hard concept for me to grasp. Before coming to know the Lord, I would get 8+ hours of sleep and wouldn’t understand why I still felt drained everyday. It took some time and heart change to realize that I didn’t really need rest for my body, but rest for my soul.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 New International Version)
Granted, it took me going away and being on my feet for fourteen hours a day while getting a little over seven hours of sleep each night to truly understand the meaning and importance of finding rest in the Lord. It took me having meltdowns on the floor of the dining hall to realize that exhaustion, spiritual and physical, is just another thing I need to learn to give up to Him.
It took time, lots of it. And a whole lot of discipline. It took praying instead of complaining. It took fighting the urge to sit when I felt like I couldn’t walk anymore. It took lifting bus bins full of plates and trusting that God wouldn’t let my arms give out on me. A whole lot of trust. That’s what it really took.
Sometimes it can be hard for me to remember this concept — that I can only find full, satisfying rest in God, not in fifteen minutes more of sleep in the morning when I feel like I cannot possibly get up to read my bible before school. I promise you, I can. And you can. Granting our souls rest is so much more important than giving our body the “rest” we think we need.
That is a picture of one peaceful gal, let me tell you. You can see the bags under the eyes, but wow was my soul at rest. My greatest worry was serving campers in the best, most Christ-like way possible. I just think that this picture goes to show that we can only really be fulfilled when we are turning to Christ to relieve our restlessness. While I may not look like it, I had more energy than I had ever had before, and my soul was on fire.
I pray that you and I can remember that it wasn’t because I was on Work Crew, or because I was at a Young Life camp. It was because God was showing up in amazing ways. All because I chose to trust in the truth of Matthew 11:28 and go to Him with my burdens and believe that He would give me rest. Not this world, but Jesus. Just Jesus.
As always, I’ve got some music recommendations: