Rest

I've been thinking a lot lately about rest. What does it mean to be resting in God. a couple of things have led to this thinking. The first is, as a staff we are reading "The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath" by Mark Buchanan. I also just finished Contemplative Youth Ministry by Mark Yaconelli in that he talks about his son who started a club called the "Slow Club" the whole point of the club is to slow down and not be rushed no matter what you had to do and who was pushing you to go fast... did I mention that his son was 4? Anyway to me this is such a good idea. And I have been trying to slow down my pace. To enjoy the half block walk from work to home without rushing. The final thing that I have been thinking about is the guidance of God. Psalm 46:10 says "Be Still and Know that I am God." Isn't it true that we get so busy that we miss God. We are so worried about doing that we forget God is more interested in us just being. How can we find God’s guidance when we are so busy that we never pay attention to Him? Niki was talking on her blog about how she was resting, and in that rest she was busy doing things, and then she talked about how the tree outside our window is a reminder to her of how God is present. But I wonder if there isn't another illustration from the tree.

It seems to me that the busyness in our life is like a wind that shakes our extremities, and threatens to knock us down. But when we have learnt to rest in God, all the wind does is shake our branches, but WE are firmly rooted and are able to rest. So we are active, but not busy. But when we have lost the ability to be still and know God, the wind/busy times in our life come and blow against us, and we shatter like an old tree in a strong storm. Busyness will kill you. Think about that word, what comes to mind? For me it is the bee going from one flower to the next, flying around in circles. Busyness will destroy you. It will separate you from God. Unless we can slow down, rest in the presence of our creator, we will break under the speed of life. So stop for a minute, take a breath, tune into the presence of God, rest....... and then go back to your work, but do so remembering that the wind is only shaking your branches, not you. Remember that you can be active, but not busy.