Need Some Rest?
By Dot Bowen
Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from Him. Truly He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. Psalm 62:5-6 (NIV)
Have you ever had trouble sleeping? Oh, how I hate going to bed and instead of going to sleep, I find myself tossing back and forth. Have you ever heard the old saying, “if you can’t sleep, count sheep”? Well, counting sheep simply does not work for me. I further awake while trying to keep up with the correct accounting system! I never know if I have counted the same sheep twice!
Rest is something we all need. Rest isn’t a luxury—it’s a need—and yet more and more often I hear women longing to find rest. It’s not really a lack of sleep they long for but a longing for rest in their souls.
In Psalm 62:5-6, David speaks of finding rest. But finding rest is not simple. The Hebrew word for rest in this verse is damam (pronounced daw-mam) meaning quiet self, rest, be silent, to stop. Even though being silent, stopping, and resting is hard to do, I believe it is even more difficult to stop resting in the wrong things.
David encourages us to find our rest in God and know that our only hope is in God. He let’s us know that it is God alone that will give us our rest. It is God alone who will give us the peace we so long for. It is God alone who is our hope.
One of the reasons we do not rest is that we are trusting in everything else but God. We are looking for our circumstances to change before we believe we can experience rest. This is very dangerous because before we realize it, finding rest and hope become much more important than finding God.
Today I want to challenge you with a question. “What is more important to you, rest, hope, peace, contentment, joy or knowing and finding God?” I say this is a challenge because everything in this world is pulling at our heartstrings to long for so much more than God. Does God bring peace, hope, joy, and rest? Yes!! But, do I set my heart toward those things or do I find my rest and hope in God alone? I’m praying that God will give us the faith and desire to want Him above everything else—including the good things! Are you up to the challenge? To be honest, I think the only way we can find God is to pray and ask God to give us the desire to want Him above everything else. He is the peace in the storm. You are not to focus on the storm passing, but instead, hold on to the One who calms the storm.
My prayer for you is that you will seek God. Rest in Him and find your hope in Him. He alone is our hope and He alone is our peace.
Further Reading Mark 6:31