Rocked and Restored
When was the last time you woke up rested…really rested, and exuberant and excited about meeting the day?
Do you remember the last time you had an experience so indefinably happy that when you tried to explain it to someone, there weren’t words enough?
And when was the last time you caught yourself enjoying life so deeply that you couldn’t quite get the smile off your face?
I hope it has not been too long. Joy is supposed to be a spiritual fruit, so why are so many of us Christians convinced that we are not serving God unless we are exhausted, running hither and yon, and miserable?
While visiting with my friend, Don, this week, he expressed a strong desire to spend more time with his grandchildren, who live about 90 miles away. He recently made a vow that he would make a point to go for a visit once a month… but before he knows it, he’s gotten too busy and several months have gone by.
I don’t think that God intends for us to be so busy. I think that He has a rhythm for us to sort of relax and go with, trusting Him to guide us through the important tasks. I’m reminded of how it feels to sit in the water at the edge of the shore and rock with the waves as they lick the sand.
Some of us get caught up in our church activities, doing any number of things that we feel are really good and necessary. Then, because we’re that type of person, we are just as busy at home and at work…and maybe even sitting on the board of one or two worthy community causes.
All of a sudden, we realize that we are having problems and we don’t understand shy. We feel empty and spiritually unfulfilled. We wonder why we are not communicating with our families and our spouses. We begin to assume things about the ones we live with, because we have not had the time to find out what they are thinking or what their needs are.
Tim Hansel’s book, When I Relax I Feel Guilty,(David C. Cook Publishing Company) brought about some awakening moments for me. In it, he talks about three-minute vacations, doing something silly now and then, and the “ludicrous Thursday lunch.” The rules for the lunch are that it can’t be Thursday, and it can’t be lunch.
Do you ever feel guilty when you relax? I used to, because I didn’t really know HOW to relax. Even now, in retirement, I have to tell myself that it’s okay to take it easy.
One summer day, a couple of decades ago, my grown children and I were in Azay le Rideau, a little village in France. We ate lunch at a sidewalk café. This was literally a sidewalk café, being on a sidewalk so narrow that it only held a tiny table and two chairs. Since there were four of us, the boys put their chairs out in the street. Only a couple of cars per hour came by because, as we had discovered, tradition was to close all the shops from noon until 2:00. All we could do was eat, write postcards and read. I became aware that I was relaxing, maybe for the first time in my adult life, because there was absolutely nothing else to do. I have never forgotten how free I felt.
On another summer day, a friend and I were in Heidelberg, Germany, for about 24 hours. We stayed at a pension near the bottom of the hill that leads to the old fortress known as Heidelberg Castle. Although we had a few specific destinations and arrival times in mind for most of our trip, we were usually pretty relaxed, following the mood of the day.
As we finished breakfast, we decided that we wanted to take a noon train to Rothenberg ob der Tauber in Bavaria. We also wanted to see the castle. I knew from experience that it takes perhaps 30 to 40 minutes to climb the steep hill, and steal precious time that we could spend on the castle grounds. So we left our backpacks at the pension and called a taxi.
When the driver learned that we only wanted to go to the top of the hill, he became angry, saying that when people asked him to make such a short trip, he usually told them to walk! I was mildly sympathetic, explaining that we had a train to catch and were short on time. He began a little dissertation that included “We were all born with exactly the same amount of time…” He did not like it, but he did drive us to the castle, we did tour the castle grounds, and we did catch our train – on time.
In Tim Hansel’s book, he calls one chapter, “Weary Servants of the Impossible.” The title strikes me as an appropriate description of so many of us. He suggests that overwork is a problem for sincere, dedicated Christians. I recommend this book for anyone who feels overburdened, perhaps close to burnout. It was an important work for me at a time when I had to stop, drop to my knees, and surrender all the frantic, busyness to God. “Lord,” I prayed, “what would you have me do?”
As we move closer to God’s rhythm for our lives, we realize that he has given us exactly enough time to achieve HIS purpose for us. (Did our German taxi driver have a point)? Have you discovered what that purpose is for your life? We must each pray about and decide what is important to us. .. to evaluate and reevaluate our lifestyles. Are we living according to God’s purpose for us? It’s a decision we must make.
A woman named Vicki tells about being at home with her 14-month-old daughter. The little girl had a cold, was tired and cranky, and nothing seemed to make her happy. She followed her mommy everywhere, and got into one thing after another until her mother was totally exasperated.
They did not sing, or talk or read. They merely sat and rocked while the mother held the child. The little girl didn’t go to sleep, but was content to just be held.
Aren’t we like that? Sometimes, when every part of our life is in turmoil, we just need to go into God’s arms. Like that little girl, we need to remember that when all else goes wrong, there is one constant in our lives that will never fail us, one place where we can find love and peace…resting in God’s arms.
Psalm 131:2 reads:
“Oh Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.
Surely, I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with
its mother.”
Take time to be with God. Take time to read the scriptures and pray. Every
day. Just let God love you, and rock you in His arms. Be rocked… and
restored.
I wasted an hour one morning beside a mountain stream.
I seized a cloud from the sky above and fashioned myself a dream,
In the hush of the early twilight, far from the haunts of men,
I wasted a summer evening, and fashioned my dream again.
Wasted? Perhaps. Folks say so who never have walked with God.
When lanes are purple with lilacs or yellow with goldenrod.
But I have found strength for my labors in that one short evening hour.
I have found joy and contentment; I have found peace and power.
My dreaming has left me a treasure, a hope that is strong and true.
From wasted hours, I have built my lie and found my faith anew.
(Author Unknown)
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