I wonder why all the places in this world that promise rest so seldom actually deliver it?
Hotels, for example. Promising blissful rest to weary travelers, hotels, instead, too often deliver hard or squishy beds, demon-possessed air-conditioners that sound like jet engines, loud voices in the hallways, toilets that won’t stop running, and never, ever, ever enough towels.
Or how about hospitals? I have the utmost respect and gratitude for the fine folks who work in hospitals, but let’s face it, a hospital is NO place to rest. After enduring days and nights of what seem like hourly intrusions and procedures, most people would walk through fire to get out of that place and to get some real rest.
During my last hospital stay, it was very surreal, indeed, to be awakened in the wee hours of the night in a medicated fog to find myself surrounded by medical-looking strangers who were instructing me to blow as hard as I could into a weird apparatus so they could make sure my lungs were functioning well. It made all those alien abduction stories seem a bit more plausible.
“My lungs are fine – they just need to sleep!” I wanted to scream.
I realize that hospital personnel have jobs to do, but does my blood absolutely have to be removed from my arm at 5 a.m.? Will my health really be impaired if I don’t drink broth and eat popsicles at 6:30 a.m.? Must I be awakened to be sure that I can be awakened?
Perhaps. But I don’t have to like it.
When you feel lousy enough to be in a hospital, all you want to do is sleep. And sleep can be mighty hard to come by. I’ve read where prisoners of war are sometimes tortured by being kept awake for extended periods of time, then allowed to doze off, only to be abruptly awakened again. Sounds like a hospital stay to me.
What about all the other places in the world that promise rest, but come up woefully short? RESTrooms (who wants to linger in there?), RESTaurants (who can rest when you know the bill is coming?), REST stops (if the germs don’t get you, the muggers might), and REST homes (whose turn is it to pretend they are Teddy Roosevelt or Queen Elizabeth today?).
I recently endured weeks of post-surgical “rest” and you know what? It didn’t feel restful at all. While my body was forced to be still, my mind was in high gear. I had envisioned weeks of blissful relaxation as I guiltlessly watched old movies and read good books, but instead, I laid there thinking of all the things I wasn’t getting done. And worry is decidedly not restful.
But while everything around me often conspires to make rest hard to come by, I’m finally beginning to understand that there is indeed a place of internal rest – a place I can retreat to even when life gets very noisy and challenging. It’s found in the presence of God and my ticket in is simple: prayer.
Talking to God about all those things that threaten to wear me out — worries, burdens and frustrations – transports me into the rest of God and allows me to experience the truth of Isaiah 26:3: “You (God) will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You.”
I give Him my worries – He gives me His peace; I give Him my confusion – He gives me His wisdom; I give Him my weakness – He gives me His strength; I give Him my faith in His character, His Word and His perfect love for me – and He gives me His rest. What a deal.
We complain about our busy, stressful lives to people who are basically powerless to help us change anything. In an effort to escape stress, we actually often multiply it on elaborate, expensive, and exhausting vacations. The truth is, we don’t need to go anywhere in order to get the rest, peace and quiet our hearts desperately long for. Those precious things are only a prayer away.
Jesus says, “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 paraphrase of the Bible)