Get Some Rest

by Allison Martin

"What heights of love, what depths of peace, when fears are stilled, when strivings cease..."

I knew l'd have a fight on my hands. My 2 year old was exhausted, overstimulated, confused and frustrated. Bad combination. It had been a long week of traveling, with a packed schedule. But there was light at the end of the tunnel. Only one more event. But first, my little girl needed a nap. 

She didn’t think so. 

I could see the panic in her eyes. That emotion overwhelm that is reaching it's boiling point. It won't let you be still. It screams in your ear to move, or run, or do anything but just stay.

I steadied her shoulders with my hands, and she pulled away. "No. No! NO! " Twisting and straining against my attempt to keep her in place, she tried to run. And couldn't. Wailing, she tried to force herself free. She tried harder. And harder. Her efforts became more frantic and less effective. She was wearing out. She strained and clawed and pushed until she couldn’t anymore. Totally spent, she relaxed into my arms.

And strivings ceased.

I wish it were that easy for us. She put on very public display exactly how our hearts feel sometimes. Frantic. Straining. Striving.

Insecurity screams, "You’re no good." So we sprint towards productivity. Do more, do it faster, do it better. Do all the things for all the people. We'll show them. We'll show ourselves. We'll show God. The hamster wheel goes faster and gets nowhere. Every morning, it’s another mad dash towards false hope, that today we’ll get it all done. We’ll feel like enough. And every night, we lay down exhausted, somehow no closer than when we sprinted off that morning.

We fight and claw to escape our fear: that we aren’t good enough, and we'll never measure up. We work at earning approval like it’s our full time job. It is, actually - plus overtime.

Our past sneaks up on us, taunting that we’re who we used to be. No. No! NO. Run. Frantically, we set loftier prayer time goals and start four new Bible studies. Not from a desire to know God more, but in desperation for identity. Any day that we fall short the pressure is upped, and the guilt too. More. Faster. Better. RUN.

Ever been there? 

Truly, there is a place for striving in this Christian life. We run and fight and labor. And yes, even strive as Jesus commanded us to do. Living for God in a fallen world is no stroll through the park. It’s a fight to live holy from the inside out, battling temptation and the distractions of this life. Godly striving comes from a place of purpose and power, and brings fulfillment. But the striving that some of us are living in? It stems from fear and insecurity, and leaves us exhausted.

And so many of us are. Not in a way that a good nap or a solid night of sleep will fix. Our feet have ran to keep up with a soul on the run. And one or the other probably feels like it can’t anymore. When we finally collapse, utterly spent, we can finally understand the promise that offers to hold us close: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Rest. A foreign concept in this generation, who has grown so used to saying, "I'm tired”, because our hearts really are. 

Rest - in Him who is our strength, Who will mold us into what we should be if we surrender to His process.

Rest - in the value He says we already have, before we knock out a huge to do list. So we’ll accomplish from a place of worth instead of working to earn it. 

Rest - in Love that has seen the worst of me and refuses to turn away. It’s where honesty is healing and there’s nothing to hide. 

It's amazing when you finally stop. You realize how tired you really were. If you're going to run today, run to Jesus first. Run to your altar, whether that means you make a trip to the church or a parking spot in the back corner where no one will wonder what in the world you’re doing. Run to His presence and get some rest.

"My Comforter, my all in all.

Here in the love of Christ I stand."