rest

–Begin by taking some deep breaths. As you breathe, you can begin to clear your mind.-

• Breath in: Stillness
• Breath out: All Anxiety

-Continue this breathing exercise until you feel you are ready to continue.-

O come, let us sing to the Lord;
    let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
    let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God,
    and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
    the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
    and the dry land, which his hands have formed.

O come, let us worship and bow down,
    let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
For he is our God,
    and we are the people of his pasture,
    and the sheep of his hand.

O that today you would listen to his voice!
    Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
    as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
when your ancestors tested me,
    and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
For forty years I loathed that generation
    and said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray,
    and they do not regard my ways.”
Therefore in my anger I swore,
    “They shall not enter my rest.”

Psalm 95

When I am in a wilderness place in my mind, body or soul, I find that I have a hard time seeing the good in the world. I have a hard time listening to the voice of God. Even praising and worshiping God become difficult. I am at the place Israel was when they were at Meribah. It was here they questioned if God was still with them. It says about Meribah, “[Moses] called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’” (Exodus 17:7)

When I am in these wilderness places, I am not able to enter into God’s rest because I am not even sure God is there with me. I question God’s love for me, and I am not sure God is looking out for my best interests. At times like this, I cannot enter into God’s rest because I am not able to find rest within myself. It is not that God has decided that I am not worthy of entering into God’s rest. It is that I am not able to enter the rest because there is no rest within my soul. At these times, I need to take a step back from the world, and quiet my soul. I need to “Be still, and know that [God is] God!” (Psalm 46:10)

I do this by taking a long walk, doing some yoga, reading a good book, or taking a some deep breathes. How do you still your mind and soul?

• Take 10 minutes or whatever time you have to be still in the presence of God in whatever way works for you.

-Please take a moment.-

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-Take some deep breaths.-

• Breath in: Stillness
• Breath out: All Anxiety

God of rest, thank you for giving us the rest we need. It is hard to be restful when everything around us seems to be in chaos. Help us to take a moment, calm our minds, and enter into your rest. Amen.