And the king, and all the people who were with him, arrived weary at the Jordan. And there he refreshed himself. [1]
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!” [2]
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.
7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil device[3]
It seems in the past few years my mind wanders again and again in amazement to the speed life seems to be approaching. I am constantly reminded of a scene and Ray Bradbury’s work Fahrenheit 451… In the scene the main character Guy Montag drives by a billboard on the freeway and casually describes it as over 200ft long – not for the information on it, but because the speed of the cars makes anything smaller impossible to read. Does it take a 200ft billboard to get our attention? Are our lives moving so quickly, filled with so many commitments, stretched in so many directions, and moving so quickly that even friends and family have to stick up billboards to get our attention? Are we so busy checking our clocks, phones, agendas, and email that we fail to notice others?
Major life events fill the last two years of my life. From my Father passing away to meeting and marrying the love of my life to relocating 1,000 miles from the place I called home for the past 4 years, my life seemed to be in constant motion. Yet, a question comes to mind, so when do we stop? Does busyness cloud our lives and hearts? The Scriptures constantly remind us of our need for rest. It seems to be that the greatest “sin” in my world is to be labeled “unproductive”. The pressure from within and from without seems to scream, “Why aren’t’ you doing something productive? Do something constructive with your time! Don’t just sit there?!” and so I find myself into a vicious cycle – constantly seeking rest I force myself into constant motion.
Suddenly the commands of God become life itself. How often do we forget that the Sabbath was given for man not man for the Sabbath? That a day of rest was a gift to the people of God, because we have a God that can grant it! Our rest is in Him, in Christ, because he is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We are able to rest from our labors, worries, anxieties, and fears. We are able to rest from the chaos and confusion. We are to rest from doing so that we might discover again the relationship that brings life. Whether it’s a day, an hour, or even minute-by-minute Christ brings rest from even the sin and idol of production and when we discover that we just might discover again the relationships around us. We might discover what we have been missing all along.
This is something that is an ongoing battle for me. After the rush and chaos of what seems like 8 months of non-stop doing, my wife and I find ourselves waiting. Since moving from Atlanta to South Hamilton we have been in a holding pattern waiting…. It seems we were in a mad rush reached our destination and then were told, “alright now wait”. As it turns out neither one of us handle waiting to well. Yet, God is lovingly teaching us to wait!
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint. [4]
