Rest

“For those who feel their lives are a grave disappointment to God, it requires enormous trust and reckless, raging confidence to accept that the love of Jesus Christ knows no shadow of alteration or change. When Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened," He assumed we would grow weary, discouraged, and disheartened along the way. These words are a touching testimony to the genuine humanness of Jesus. He had no romantic notion of the cost of discipleship. He knew that following Him was as unsentimental as duty, as demanding as love.”
― Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out

     I remember many times when I was very young, sitting with my dad after we had finished a project.  Maybe we were mending fence or stacking wood or building something, but when we finished for that day we would sit together and look over what we had accomplished.  I usually had a soda or some kind of juice in my hand while he enjoyed either a cup of coffee or a beer, depending on the time of day and temperature outside.  Dad would usually find some place to sit comfortably and I would imitate him the best I could.  I never sat very long before I was up again trying to convince Dad that we could get more done before we called it a day.  Once Dad was finished and sat down it was a rare occasion that I would actually get him up and moving again.  Sometimes he would tell me stories from his childhood or explain why things were the way they were.  I was not quite to the place of understanding the importance of rest when he moved out of our home.

     God has me in a time of rest.  A time of being present with Him.  I have a hard time resting.  I feel lazy.  I feel like that little kid again, saying, "But God there are things we could be doing."  I can almost hear Dad's chuckle.  Rest is important.  I keep thinking about exercise.  When we do resistance training we actually tear muscle tissue and we accomplish more muscle building when we take a day of rest after the workout and allow those muscles to heal.  Those healed muscles are bigger and stronger.  
     I love how God works.  I am amazed by His timing.  Yesterday I read an article about alcohol:

Alcohol comes from the Arabic "al-kuhl" which was the name of a body-eating spirit. In fact, the English "ghoul" comes from the same word.
When Arab alchemists' ingested alcohol their senses deadened and they named the substance according to its "body-taking" qualities. Knowing this, European speakers who understood its etymology coined the use of the term "spirits" for alcohol.
The use of the term spirits for alcohol goes very far back so it's impossible to know for sure due the lack of written evidence, but this is the simplest answer to the question, and, in my opinion, the most likely to be true.

     This morning this article showed me why rest is important.  When we drink alcohol and our senses are deadened we don't have the resistance to immoral behavior or the enemy's whispers.  Our mind is open to the twisted lies of the enemy.  If we can find that rest in Christ, that intoxicating presence and purposefully let down our defenses, we are open to the whispers of Christ.  I see it as leaning against the fence with Papa, enjoying a drink of Living Water and listening to His praise for what He has accomplished through us through our obedience and instruction to where we go next.  He tells us stories of His life as we read scripture and explains why things are the way they are.  The most difficult part of this to accept, just like with my bio-dad is that sometimes He says, "Just because."  Maybe Bio-Dad said it because he didn't know the answer or maybe because it was too difficult to explain.  God says it for different reasons.  

     The other day I sat in a waiting room at the hospital, next to Dad.  I realized that the security I had felt as a child in those quiet moments, he was somehow getting from me now.  His brother was in the operating room undergoing a very tricky and life threatening procedure.  We sat in silence for a while and other times Dad chatted nervously as I had when I was young.  Before surgery I was able to take my dad's hand in mine and place them on my uncle's hands and I prayed.  I wanted so badly for them to feel that peace that I had found in our Papa's presence.  

     Just like sitting in silence next to Dad, leaned against a bale of hay, an ice cold soda in my hand, sweat dripping from my chin and a smile pasted on my face, I now sit with God.  As when I sat with Dad I now feel that security in being with God.  As with Dad when the world was right in those times we shared, my small world with God is right.

     Unlike Dad, God will never be dependent on me for security.  He will always be bigger, stronger, and He will never leave.  Also, He is always available.  No matter where I am in my walk, no matter the time of day, He will sit down with me, knowing exactly what I need from Him, before I do.


"The thing I like about rest is it gives me a breathing space where I can gather myself. I can step back. You don’t have to react to externals; you have to respond to an internal." - Graham Cooke