Resting

How rested are you? If you're like me maybe you can sing along with James Taylor, "I've been spreading myself thin these days, don't you know." There seems to be no end to demands on our time and attention. It's probably fair to say that most of us are tired. Weary might be a better word...

But it's not simply that we're physically tired is it? We're living in troubled times. The economy provides plenty of fodder for worry. So do the wars abroad and fears of terror at home. Our society's not in the greatest shape either. Hopes that our economic woes would refocus us as a nation (much the way the Great Depression did) have not come to fruition. I've received plenty of emails stirring up a sense of worry about all of these things. For folks my age, there are added family worries: teenagers and aging parents!

In spite of all there is to worry about, Christians are called to rest. In Matthew 11: 28-29 Jesus says, "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. The writer of Hebrews talks about entering God's rest in chapters 3 and 4. Some, the writer says, never enter God's rest? Why? Because of their unbelief.

Was the problem that they didn't believe in God? No. Instead those who never entered God's rest did not believe that God would take care of them. They refused to go into the Promised Land because they didn't believe that the God who plagued the Egyptians, parted the Red Sea, and miraculously provided for their nourishment in the desert could grant them victory in this new venture.

God was calling them to a sort of active passivity. They were to go up into the land BUT trust that God would be the one to do the actual work of bringing victory. The Israelites simply had to do whatever He told them to do.

Usually when I find myself stressed out about something it's because I've forgotten that I'm called to the same kind of active passivity. God calls me to listen for His voice and do my best to be sure, but He also calls me to trust all of the important stuff (outcomes) to him. He's got it. He can handle it. And He's reliable. If we truly take His yoke upon us we will find rest for our souls.