Day Eight - Rest

.

Rest... 

When I took this photo, I r-e-a-l-l-y needed to rest. I had just explored the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias in Yosemite National Park; it was a very hot day in July. At first glance, it was as though the Adirondack chair motioned me over, inviting me to come rest. Did I resist? No. I responded. I rested. 

 

relaxation from exertion or labor ~ repose; sleep ~ any relief or 

refreshment, as from worry or something troublesome ~ calm;  

tranquility ~  cessation from motion ~ a pause for relaxation 

Dominical Beach ~ Costa Rica 

Rest...

The Greek word for rest used in the passage in Matthew 11:28 is

anapauw  //  anapauo   //  an-ap-ow'-o

It means: rest, refresh, take rest, give rest, take ease

1) to cause or permit one to cease from any movement or labor
in order to recover and collect his strength
2) to give rest, refresh, to give one's self rest, take rest
3) to keep quiet, of calm and patient expectation

Daily, we are invited by our Creator to rest. Though I can't imagine why since it is difficult for me to imagine God needing to rest, after He created the heavens and the earth, He rested on the seventh day. On the Sabbath, we are told to rest.


Matthew 11:28-30 says, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. {29} "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. {30} "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

^{I like the way the Message Bible says it...}

^28-30"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." 

Yes! To learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I believe Jesus knew how to walk in unforced rhythms of grace as His sandals left footprints in the dust of earth. Jesus desires the same for us so we are able to rest. 

Psalm 94:12 and 13 talks about how blessed we are when God disciplines us and instructs us out of His Word, that He may give us power to keep ourselves calm in days of adversity. Or the Message Bible says it so beautifully: Providing a circle of quiet within the clamor of evil. 

 

The image that comes to mind here is the calm in the eye of a hurricane... 

 

Pause for a moment and just dwell on that thought...imagine flying through the stormy clouds in the outer bands of a hurricane... your plane being blown about, lightening striking all around you, very much in danger in the eerie storm. As you near the eye wall the turbulence is roller-coaster crazy! Then, amazingly, you fly into this incredible clear blue calm, in the midst of the hurricane. Blue sky above and sparkling sea below. Aah...This is a picture of peace, a circle of quiet, that our Father God longs for us to experience in the midst of the clamor of our often stress filled lives of unemployment, short sales and foreclosures, cancer, disease and death. 

 

We need physical rest, however soul rest or spiritual rest is far more important for our overall health and spiritual well being. May we crave that rest as searchingly as Jesus did when he intentionally wandered away from the crowds and his disciples to seek out a place of rest, to rest and enjoy His Father's company. Jesus longed for fellowship and to hear His Daddy's words of love and direction.

Isaiah 32:18 God says His people will dwell in peaceable habitations, in safe dwellings and in quiet resting places. He desires this for us! We should pursue it with our whole being!

As I've been hanging on for the roller-coaster ride of my life and making an effort to keep my hands up for the ride, I need to and long to press in harder toward Jesus. As the money in the "piggy bank" has gotten lower in the jar, My soul, must find it's rest in God; my hope only comes from Him. I am experiencing more peace now than I was a week ago. Progress is being made. God is perfecting me, as I behold Him.

Give your stress wings and let it fly away.  ~Terri Guillemets