giver of rest

 Come unto me all you who are weary.......

A couple of weeks ago I went up for prayer in church. Not about anything specific, just to get a ' top up'.  The people who were praying asked God to give me peace and rest.  As they were praying I was thinking that actually I do pretty well for peace and rest - they wouldn't be on the top of my wish list really.  Ive got the art of napping and putting my feet up down to a tee 😁  But they kept praying along those lines and then after a while one of them prayed that I wouldn't be restless.  And that word jumped out and smacked me in the face.  Because although I don't feel that I need rest, I do know that I have been restless.  For quite some time.

Funny isn't it, how we use language?  Being restless is a different thing from needing a rest. ( How anyone ever learns how to master the intricacies of the English language when it isnt their mother tongue is beyond me! )  The good news is that Jesus is the answer to both our exhaustion and our restlessness.

I've been restless for a good number of years now due to the fact that I really don't want to be living where I'm living.   I don't really like our house much.  It's in a seriously out of the way and inconvenient location which means I've spent the best part of the past 20 years in my car trying to get to places.  Church and friends are a good distance away.  I just want to move.  And Ive told God this endlessly.  We had the house on the market for three years and nobody wanted to buy it.  Which made me even more restless at the thought of having to stay here for the next goodness knows how long.  Yes, I am definitely restless.  But God wants to give me rest.

This has got me thinking.  Why am I so uncomfortable in my current situation?  I am well aware that if God had wanted us to move house we would have moved by now.  He clearly wants me here.  I just don't know why and I don't agree with Him 😁  I don't think my restlessness is something I can talk myself out of.  Its deep rooted.  Until now I think I have believed that my restlessness was a ' God' thing - He was wanting to move us on and unsettling me in readiness for that move.  I know God does that sometimes.  But this is 10 years of being unsettled. So its probably not that!  Somehow I have to come to peace with the idea that God's plan for my life is somewhat different from my plan.  Go figure!

What is the 'rest' Jesus promises?  I don't think its peace and quiet.  Absence of hassle. Kids in bed and a glass of wine by the fire.   According to Strong's concordance one of the ways to translate the word 'rest' in Matthew 11;28 is to exempt.  I love that.  Jesus is handing out exemptions  - do you remember how it felt at school if you got a pass from having to do a homework? Or if you discovered you didn't have to take a test because you were exempt?  Such a good feeling.  A relief.  A bonus.  A blessing.  

Interestingly another translation of the word ' rest' involves the notion of remaining.  Permanence. Staying still.   Which clearly applies to my itchy feet and wanderlust. 

So maybe what Jesus is saying in this verse we know so well we can quote in our sleep is something like this

Come to me everyone who is feeling exhausted by work or overwhelmed by circumstances and I will exempt you from the test and bring you to a place of stillness.  There you can recuperate and recharge and learn to love the place you find yourself.  ( that last bit is a bit of a stretch but Im sure you will allow me the liberty 😀)    The reason Jesus is able to make this promise is because He has told us He will always be alongside exchanging our burdens for His easy and light yoke.  I think it is probably impossible to be restless if you are walking alongside someone who loves you , who is taking all the weight and who knows exactly where He is going.

This Christmas may your restlessness be quieted, may you be exempt from exhaustion and may you walk closely beside the one who gives you rest.   


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