Desert Land
Today I am really tired. In part I am tired physically, I was up late at a hockey game, I didn't get enough sleep. But, to be honest, I am also tired mentally and spiritually as well. I have been in a desert season for many months now. There have been some immeasurably beautiful moments in the desert, but it's a desert none-the-less. I am longing for mountains and rivers and green.
The past year or so, I have been exploring what it really means to rest. What does it mean to really get rest and then what does it mean to rest in God. I have the scripture on my wall, painted by an immensely talented friend, "Come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest" -(Matthew 11.28) I can see the words as I lay in bed each morning and each evening. And every time, I ask myself "what does it mean to rest in God?" I know it means something more than laying in bed all day watching Netflix. But does it mean sitting in silence? Does it mean getting outside and away from everything? Does it mean reading my Bible more? Does it mean all of the above plus other things I haven't thought of yet?
As I have wrestled with this idea over months and months, I have found brief glimpses of what it looks like to rest. I have spent hours in silence. I have hiked a nature preserve, I have spent time with friends. I have spent time praying and reading scripture. All of those have filled me up to some measure. But, I am still in the desert. I am still on water restrictions. I am still waiting on rivers in the desert. I am clinging to the words of Isaiah 43: 19-21:
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
The wild beasts will honor me,
the jackals and the ostriches,
for I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
the people whom I formed for myself
that they might declare my praise.
How do you find rest? Or what do you do when you feel dry and weary?