All wiped away. In the blurring winds circling in and out of days, blowing chaotic and careless, rest gets lost in the reach, in those breaths drawn in deeply and in tears that cut paths across dry cheeks.
I laid easy under a clear sky yesterday. For hours, just floating in and out of thoughts as gentle waves reached and recoiled. The sound whispered hypnotic abandon.
Rest alludes us. Always seemingly ahead waving empty in mirage heat while finding escape in the details of life and circumstance. We don’t rest. What we do is recharge to catch up and prepare for whatever’s next. We give regular pause when day gives way to night, but our minds race and unravel, our dreams reveal and recover and our hearts crave true belonging.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
...from racing ...from wanting ...from sinking ...from spinning ...from being lost ...from being apart
Rest lies real in the divine.
“I will give you rest. ...you will find rest for your souls.”
Wake up to start again. Our hearts paused only to resume once more.
Yes, rest alludes.
Even the happiest and most well kept individuals recharge, at best.
Our sin, all the wrong that takes residence in our heart, the imperfections we tolerate, the energy in wondering of what more, these bear more weight than mere happiness and resourcefulness. Our souls search for more. Something that will appease the unrest residing in every existing minute. Are we enough? Are we right? Are we okay?
Can we truly ever rest?
Truth is, the soul quenching rest that quiets all fear innate and intrinsic is otherworldly. We are incapable of such now.
We feel it in moments when we gaze at the sky or give honest observation to natural beauty. All else fades, including time passing, and rest passes close by. There, we unhinge from this life and feel the warmth of eternity and how much grander it is than all of the choking cares of now. It is magical and deeply invigorating. But rest, as in reprieve,
There will be a day when grace concedes to glory. Rest will truly come then.
When worries wean and fears exist no more, when struggle ends and doubts prove empty, when the last redemptive stroke is made, in a day perfected by God’s glory, rest will be the inheritance of those clinched to grace today.
Ahead, pulling us forward. Kingdom come.
The sky yesterday expanded in such unending, new beauty. I felt as though I could look into forever and be found in each floating cloud. I laid on my back in the sand next to my oldest daughter and together we spied eternity, not in clouds rolling gently but in time slowing between us and words together wondering.
Still echoing in her words and heart, “Why did mom die?” “What will life be like?” “Where will she rest when her thoughts run?”
There will be a day when all that once violated her heart, eroded her innocence and kept me up worrying, will forever fade in the glory of God. Until that day somewhere ahead, we live in his Kingdom come here and now. We find rest now amidst all wrong. That rest in founded and supported continual in our residence established in God’s glory in a indescribable day to come.
All wiped away as night gives way to day, warm and new. Rest in that tomorrow today.
"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." (Matthew 11:28-30, The Message)
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (Matthew 6:9-11)
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