Rallying in the Revitalising Rest of Jesus

“God restores my soul,

He leads me in right paths

for his name’s sake.”

— PSALM 23:3 (NRSV)

Our problems and states of heart and mind,

Determine how we feel,

Yet why do we allow them to bind,

When they’re not all that’s real?

Better to gain perspective,

To take time to ask,

Better to be more reflective,

To then make rest our task.

The single biggest health pick-me-up most of us need is rest for our embattled minds, sore bodies, and weary souls. This “rest” we find nestled in the wisdom of going into God’s Presence by simplicity. There is rest in simplicity; God speaks in restful, inaudible tones when we briefly open into the expanse of simplicity. Nature, silence, a cooling breeze, trees rustling, earthen remembrances, fire’s mysterious glow, water’s uniformity, a skin massage, light soothing rain, the gentle rumble of thunder off in the distance... go there even in your mind. Go there to rest... whenever you like.

We go there in a flash, certainly not limited in actual means.

By means of the eternal grace through the undercurrent of life, we may go to God in any of our moments; to experience that rest that serves to revitalise us in truth.

Seeing a Little More Than Our Present State

There is always more to see, and when we ask God for vision of the ‘more’ reality it’s amazing just how profound a vision we can be blessed with. It goes with our obedience, for God cannot give us something we truly don’t want. How much do we want it?

Seeing a little more than our present state is important; we don’t lose sight of the plight we are in, but we do look just a bit further than the descending and darkening cumulonimbus clouding our vision.

When we see the truth for what it is—reality in all its chaotic glory—and we gain the perspective, with time, to accept it as something we cannot change—we gain also the ability to rally in the hope of Jesus.

Such a rally always works best out of rest. We gain our perspective and then we go back out into the world a little more hopeful and with a great grasp on realism.

***

Take this image in for a moment: in the midst of a burdened life—the knowledge that “God restores my soul” and, so, we rally in the revitalising rest of Jesus, whose yoke is easy, and burden is light. Rallying is a recovery like the mythical phoenix rising from ashes. Rally in Jesus. He never lets us down when we earnestly seek him.

© 2013 S. J. Wickham.