“Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has
been good to you.” Psalm 116:7
I must confess, I stink at resting. If I sit down to rest, I immediately think of
the laundry I need to finish, the email I need to reply to, the call I forgot
to respond to, or see a pillow or throw that needs straightening. Getting still at night to go to sleep is also
difficult. So it probably comes as no
surprise, having my soul at rest- not likely.
My soul is as high strung as my brain!
Often when the Bible refers to your soul, it means
your mind, your will or your emotions.
Quieting those things sometimes takes supernatural empowerment. Especially
for us type A personalities who are high achievers and high stressors. But be at rest we must.
How do I bring my mind to rest? First of all we must commit the thoughts of
our mind to the Lord. To be at rest is
to cease from relentless worrying, obsessing and running scenarios with
possible outcomes in our mind. To be at
rest in your mind is to live in the moment, trusting God with your future. Secondly, this is accomplished by doing as
the Psalmist did, and talking to ourselves.
Often we can talk ourselves into a place of chaos just as easily as we
can talk ourselves into a place of peace.
How about bringing rest to my will? This is possibly tougher than the mind. Anyone else besides me a willful sort? I am a person of grit, moxie, and
perseverance… great signs of leadership potential. (Some of the pretty lies I tell myself!) My will desires to have its way at all
times. To bring rest to my will is to
surrender it to the Lord. It means
sometimes I do not get to have the last word or have my way. At times the Lord calls upon me to keep the
peace and walk in love. Bringing the
will to rest has much to do with wrestling it upon the altar and praying that
the Lord burns up all that is not of him.
Finally, bringing rest to my emotions is
needful. Emotions? Yeah, we all have them. Some of us are better at burying them,
denying them or hiding them. Bringing
our emotions to rest allows us to do the right thing in season or out. We do not attend church only when we feel
like it, rather we make an emotion-less decision about it and stick to it. We
follow through with commitments because it is the right thing and we follow
through with projects because we are people of integrity. A person who operates above their emotions is
a person walking in victory.
“Be at rest, O my soul, for the Lord has been good
to me.” Indeed he has! Every good and perfect gift came from
him. Everything that is right in my life
is His doing. When I think about his
goodness, it is much easier to be still in my soul. In fact, thinking upon the goodness of the
Lord causes me to want to sit at his feet as Mary did in the Bible, just
drinking in his love, wisdom and presence.
Dear Lord, help me to find rest for my soul in
you. Thank you that you have been so
good to me. Help me to operate in the
power of your spirit and not to be led around by my mind, will and emotions. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Sherri
