REST!  Is it really a lost commodity among our culture?  In our hurried, never-sitting-still-society-for-fear-of-being-run-over-by-society, you would think it is.  That speaks of physical rest, but what of the rest of one’s soul?  A time where one can enjoy some peace and quiet on the inside instead of always feeling like their world is in turmoil.

I think many of us can really relate to that need of rest.  Sometimes, we wish we could do like Jesus and stand before the storm and say, “Peace, be still,” and literally make every wave of adversity shut its mouth!  I know you want to.  I do, too!  It just becomes too much to deal with at times and the need for space, to breathe, to come out from under all this mess becomes an overwhelming factor.

God bless you if you can’t relate to what I am saying here.  For most of us the challenge of dealing with daily schedules, mess, and problems leave us feeling totally surrounded.  As if, no matter what direction we turn there is something there to prevent one from really enjoying that rest.

“And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest,” Psalm 55:6

Oh, but if I had two wings!  I would fly!  The idea of rising above every problem and adverse circumstance is very tantalizing.  Right there I begin to form a mental picture in my mind of me soaring.  Below me is everything that tries to come against me.  All those problems and schedules are trying to reach up and grab hold of me, but it can’t!  I have risen too high for them.  I have learned how to fly above it all!

The problem with that is it is fantasy.  Oh, that it was real.  While we are living on this side of glory we are always going to have something to deal with, but that still doesn’t mean we can’t fly.  Isaiah 40:31 emphatically declares, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles . . .”   God never promised to remove every problem from our lives but, what He did say, is that He will renew the strength of those who turn to Him in the midst of it all.

God is strong in power and there is none like Him, Isaiah 40:25-26.  We recognize today, that though I may not have suddenly sprouted two wings coming out of my back when I rely on His power, it is as if I am already soaring!  And, that my friends, is real rest!  It is a confidence that fills the heart and lets me know that I don’t have to feel beaten down and worn out.  God’s got this!  He sees what I am going through.  Psalms 5:11-12 says, “Let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.  For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.”  I may not have two physical wings on the outside, but on the inside, I’m flying higher than it all.  Why?  Because though it may seem at times that I am totally surrounded, I serve the Lord God Almighty who is able to “compass” me “as with a shield.”  Therefore, today, I can fly!