You Were Made to Rest

You might’ve easily accepted this truth as a kid, eager to rest your head on your perfectly placed pillows and feel cocooned in your comforter, burrowing the thoughts of the day away. Your mind prepared to sleep as your mom tucked you in. “Sweet dreams” you were told each night. Not fully sure what that meant but fully trusting your mom, you held that truth close to your heart and simply, slept. 

However, it didn’t stay quite that simple.

You may have had bouts of fear here and there, but nothing quite close to nights as you got older.

Because as you’ve gotten older, you’ve understood what it truly means to be in the dark before you go to sleep. 
You’ve understood the danger in the dark, the isolation that creeps.
You understand what it means to be alone with your thoughts running free.
You understand that a deeper side sometimes comes out at night, the questioner you used to be when you were younger, now crippled by large, heart hurting questions and the frightening inability to know the answer to them. You ask yourself, 

Why can’t I quiet my mind?
Why can’t I still my heart? 

My dear friend, you were made to rest.
To the one who lies in bed crippled by shame asking why do I feel so weighed down and isolated?
To the one who lies in bed weary from anxiety asking why can’t I calm down?
To the one who lies in bed lonely in their relationships asking why do I feel so alone?
To the one who lies in bed lost in their career and goals asking why don’t I feel satisfied?
To the one who lies in bed questioning life asking why is life worth living?

Whoever you may be, to all who ask these questions and more,

You were made to rest.

In whatever questions cloud your mind at night, in whatever information you don’t quite know, you are loved by Someone who does. Trust can be hard, but when we are sure that someone asking for our trust has our best interests in mind, trust becomes much easier. Many of us trusted our parents in this way when we were young, and we do this every day now! We don’t fully understand how a car works or an elevator holds our weight, but we trust people who do. In the same way, releasing control over knowing everything is good when we know the Controller and know the Controller is good. But who is this Controller? This “God” that Christians speak of? My friend, this God is so much more than a statue, so much more than an overbearing parents, so much more than an unreasonable judge or harsh professor. 

You were created by Someone who understands humans fully, who lived a lifetime on earth understanding what it means to be human. By Someone whose very character is defined by Love, who exudes perfect sacrifice, justice, peace, and grace. You were created by Someone who felt that shame, confusion, anxiety, loneliness, lostness, worry, and hurt on the cross, fulfilling the greatest task we were bound to out of the greatest love for us, perhaps the greatest call to rest.

Dear friend, you were made to rest.

Your Creator is not a God who asks for a demeaning strict reverence out of selfish pride. His commands are for our good, and His heart is gentle and lowly. He did not create us to know the answers to all questions, and presents His character as trustworthy and wise, allowing us to make the decision to trust. We- you, my friend, were not created to be a robot. Your Creator invites you, beckons you to come with your rage, confusion, hurt, weariness, anxiety, and more. It is your very burdens that qualify you to come to a God who sits with you, weeps with you, and offers hope. His heart is drawn into our distress, not shaken by the imperfection of the world, but as the greatest empathizer and understander. He is your greatest ally. May you find a deep and comforting rest in that.

On days where sleep feels especially far, you might find yourself remembering a phrase, a mantra of sorts ingrained in you as a child. The Lord is my shepherd.

But what does that mean in the midst of grief, suffering, pressures, brokenness, insomnia, anxiety…how could I possibly….

My dear friend, you were made to rest. 

Rest because The Lord is your shepherd.

The promise you are being offered is not idealistic, superficial comfort, because it is not coming from an idealistic, superficial being. Rather, it is being offered from the Lord of the universe, meaning that He is in all things, and in Him, all things hold together. He offers the companionship greater than the best of friends, a love deeper than any parent could offer, a hope that will outlast any promise given on Earth. 

The Lord is your shepherd.

The rest He offers you is personal. When we call out, He waits with a ready ear. When we reach out, He welcomes us with open arms, waiting for the sweetest embrace. With a love for you, specifically you, beyond words, a love to death, He desires for you to have rest because of who He is. And once again, who is He?

The Lord is your shepherd.

He is a guider and provider, one who knows His sheep and desires the greatest protection for them. He is someone worthy of His sheep’s trust because He knows what is best for them. He gives them time to rest, ensures that they are nourished and thriving, and that they can be all that they were made to be. 

The Lord is your shepherd.
You were made for rest, and rest was made for you.