the discipline of rest

Dec. 31, 2012

I have been waiting eagerly to bid farewell to 2012 in order to usher in the new year, for this has been an eventful year and I am starting to feel the toll of it.

“Come to Me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give your rest.”

This is the precious promise  I have claimed and is now a lifeline to my sanity. I am  thankful for the Lord’s faithfulness for when I am choked by anxiety, and when my soul is in extreme turmoil He reminds me that I can find rest in Him.

” In returning and rest you shall be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be your strength….” Isaiah 30:15

What a comfort to know that when I return to Him and rest in quietness and with confidence I will find strength. It  comes not from trying to prove oneself but from being with Him and trusting in His providence.

In Mark 6, amidst the tragic death of John the Baptist and the miracle of the feeding of the thousands, Christ called His disciples ” Come with me by ourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”  It is not until now I comprehend why He would call them to rest, for we can so easily get caught in the emotions and the frantic pace of life that we eventually come to a screeching halt when we ended up with an empty tank.

My greatest weakness is to give in to the demands and expectations around me without paying attention to my spiritual state.  It takes discipline for me to stop and discern what really is hidden in the heart and to be sensitive to the still small voice of the Spirit.  it takes discipline not to be enslaved to the urgent but to return to the Lord to be refreshed and restored.

And as the year is coming to an end in a couple of  minutes, this is one of the spiritual disciplines I need to practice with perseverance in the days ahead.