Be Still

"Be still and know that I am God,

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!"

Psalm 46:10

    These weeks I have not been at rest.  I have been restless. I have been distracted.  Striving to do things on my own when I should just rest.  Rest in the Lord.  It has occurred to me this week that perhaps this season is for resting.  It is for restoring my relationship with the Lord.  It isn't about thinking about the next job, or where the money is going to come from to pay the bills this month. It isn't about lingering my thoughts on the hurt I incurred.  It isn't about the anger of the rejection.  It is summer, normally as a teacher, a time to regroup.  A time to rest.  Instead, I've spent the last several weeks in turmoil.  My thoughts tumbling around the whys and why nots which I can not answer.  The Lord knows the answers.  He knows the whys and I do not need to know.  He is working it out for good (Romans 8:28).  

     Matthew 11:28 tells us "come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.". Jesus came down to restore us to the One who made us.  He came offering us rest for the soul.  All we need to do is accept it.  Am I accepting it now?   We haven't been to church in a while. No real reason just haven't gone. But this week we decided to go and we are so glad we did.  The pastor was talking about this, the need to rest, to pause in our daily craziness and seek the Lord.  His illustration was a yoke, a 150-year-old wooden yoke.  It was pretty cool looking, but when he held it up I noticed something I'd never noticed on a yoke before.  One side was larger than the other.  The pastor proceeded to tell how an older more experienced ox would occupy the larger side, while a smaller, less experienced ox would be on the smaller side.  In Matthew 11: 29-30,  Jesus tells us to "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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.". Next to this verse in my Bible, I drew a yoke to remind me that I am the smaller, less experienced one.  Jesus is the stronger one and He leads me.  His leadership is gentle.  He knows my story. He knows yours. He will press us but He will not crush us.  He will ask us to trust Him.   Let Him take the burden.  He tells us to "be still" (Ps. 46:10).  Stop striving to be and know that He is God.  Let Him give us rest for our weary souls.  Let Him give us rest for the frenzy of our lives.  Pause.  Rest.  Bask in His peace.  Know that He is God.

"For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Matthew 11:30