An Invitation of Rest

Jeremiah 6:16 “…find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’” (ESV)

Stand…Look…Ask…Walk…Find…

All of these verbs unfold in the command the Lord gives Jeremiah for the Israelites. “…Find…”, the final verb in the actual command. There’s a difference between finding a thing, versus finding something abstract. It’s a different quest.

In high school, I often laughed at one of my best friends who always lost her purse. I would roll my eyes as I thought quietly, “How does someone repeatedly do this?” At the time, my friends and I would joke that our absent-minded friend was so high on life, too busy living in the moment, that she couldn’t bother with keeping track of her belongings. In some way, my anxious and overly-responsible-self was slightly jealous of that carefree mentality.

We often backtracked to our previous location or two: the last classroom, the last person’s house, the last car we rode in, the last fast food place. You get the picture. We spent many a time getting all the way to point B only to backtrack to point A in a frenzy. We hoped no one had stolen her money, driver’s license, or the brick of a cell phone we use to carry around. There was an urgency. A panic. A team effort. We needed to find that purse and find it now!

When we’re looking for something more abstract the search feels different. If we’re searching for joy, peace, love, or rest the quest might not be so urgent. The pace feels more steady and even-keeled. It feels more long term. We hope to find this abstract thing in time but we’re not exactly sure where to look or what to do. We get frustrated because the quest doesn’t end immediately. There’s no concrete object we can pick up and say with relief, “Yes! I found it!”

In the past, I always treated finding rest as a quest for a thing. It felt rushed, urgent, immediate. I needed it now! I ran around looking everywhere for it. I tried to find it in all the wrong places. I felt like I once had rest when I was little so maybe I should backtrack to that point in my life. I once had rest when I had less to do. I once had rest when I slept in longer. I once had rest when I was at the beach. And on and on. I try to backtrack to each of those points in life. Yet, I can’t find true rest. The frenzied backtracking is just a band-aid.  

I once heard someone say, “Maybe rest is not a thing to find but a person. You find rest by experiencing Jesus.” This idea stopped me in my frantic, frenzied, urgent, restless tracks.

Ok. Ok. So, I have to slow my pace and stop looking for one specific thing.

In Mathew 11:28-29 Jesus says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (NLT)

Jesus’ process of finding rest for our souls feels much less frantic. It feels slower paced like there’s a learning curve and it’s a long-term process. We have to experience it. Practice it. Gosh dang it, we can’t just grab rest, hold it up like a trophy, and shout, “Yes! I found it!”

If we take Jesus’ yoke upon us we have to take off the yoke we’ve been carrying by ourselves for so long. Maybe it’s a yoke of pride, independence, embarrassment, denial, or grief. We get weary and tired carrying that yoke all alone. We’re not made for that.

Jesus invites us to unhitch ourselves from that exhaustion. He invites us to sidle up next to him, shoulder to shoulder, and hitch ourselves to his way of life. We’re like two oxen walking side by side working to plow a field together. I dare say I’m the weaker of the two. Jesus is definitely carrying more of the weight as we move forward together. That’s ok. I need the help. I need the rest in the midst of the work.

The beautiful thing is, as I walk side by side with him I’m learning his ways. He’s teaching me how to pace myself, slowing down when I need a moment to breathe, or pushing us forward when he sees I can do more than I think. He coaches me along, whispering encouragement or hard truth when I need it. He’s humble and gentle. He’s not leaving me behind because I’m not good enough. He’s not tearing me down and ridiculing me because I can’t cut it.

“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” Jesus reassures his disciples in Mathew 28:20b (ESV). His spirit is with us. When we hitch our lives to him we forever have his spirit moving with us. That side-by-side companionship offers a safe place of rest.

I’m thankful that when Jesus says, “…find rest for your soul” I’m not thrown into an urgent frantic heart-pounding fearful search. I don’t have to panic to find a purse. I don’t have to panic to find an object of rest. “Find” is an invitation for an experience. It’s a gift. It’s a search filled with grace, allowing me a freedom to learn as I go.

In Jeremiah 6:16 the Israelites refuse to walk in this way. They stubbornly choose to find rest their own way. Frantic and frenzied, it doesn’t go well for them. Let us remember life does not have to be like that. The Lord offers us a different way. A more grace-filled way of life.

Let’s experience rest by choosing to lay down our burdens. Listen and look for the pace the spirit is setting for you as you move forward. This pace doesn’t have to be frenzied. It doesn’t have to look the same as anyone else.

Picture via Pixabay.com