The following is an excerpt from Week 5 of Open Your Bible: God’s Word is for You and for Now, a 7-session group Bible study written by Raechel Myers and Amanda Bible Williams of She Reads Truth, in partnership with LifeWay.
My mom used to wake us up with pots and pans.
My brother and I would be sleeping soundly in our respective rooms, ignoring our alarms and Mom’s best efforts to lure us out of bed to get dressed for school. Eventually, up the stairs she’d come, banging a wooden spoon on a steel pot or metal pan or whatever was handy in the kitchen, a big grin on her face. She knew to relish moments like those.
Evidently rest was not a challenge for me when I was younger, no matter how loud life got. It came more naturally and more soundly, regularly and effectively pushing aside the activities and cares of life to make space for quiet and being.
Tack on twenty years and rest has taken on unicorn status. It is glorious and beautiful, but rare (almost fictional!). When it finds me, I know it in an instant. Like seeing a stranger walk into a family reunion, moments of true rest are recognizable not because they are familiar but precisely because they aren’t. In our days packed to the brim with running and doing and striving, pockets of rest feel so out of place they can make us—runners and doers and strivers that we are—feel out of sorts. It’s those moments of rest that jar us awake to the good stuff, that allow our hearts to come up for air and stir our curiosity toward God and our questions of faith.
>>>OPEN YOUR BIBLE and readMatthew 11:28-30. Rest doesn’t have to have unicorn status. Jesus promises to give it to us! What instructions does Jesus give for finding rest?
Speaking as the girl who still struggles to wake in the morning (though now from sleeping too little instead of too soundly), I’m uncomfortable with rest because it means loosening my grip. It means slowing my feet and temporarily, or even permanently, forfeiting my plans. Rest begs me to relinquish control—to cease striving and commence trusting. These reasons are precisely why rest is so key to our call to abide in God and His Word.
Mary of Bethany is my favorite example of a rest-er in Scripture. While her sister Martha (bless her!) was scurrying around the house, doing what needed to be done, Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet. She ceased readying her home, readying herself, she even ceased serving Jesus for the opportunity to sit with Jesus.
>>>OPEN YOUR BIBLE to Luke 10:38-42 and read the story for yourself. Do you see yourself more in Mary or Martha? Why so?
What does Jesus say to Martha? See verses 41-42.
Those things Martha busied herself with were good, even commendable, but only one thing was truly necessary—to sit at the feet of the Savior. Those other things were important, but listening to Jesus’ words wasurgent.
When I need written permission to rest in the presence of the Lord, I go to the Psalms. Those poems are like a permanent hall pass when I’m overwhelmed, a doctor’s note to skip class when all my papers are overdue.
>>> OPEN YOUR BIBLE and readPsalm 119:114:
You are my shelter and my shield; I put my hope in Your word.
The Hebrew words here for “shelter” and “shield” mean exactly that—a covering, a defense. The Psalmist runs to Scripture for cover! It is his best defense! God’s Word calls us to trust Him by setting our striving aside and acknowledging Him as our haven. Psalm 91 follows suit, calling the Lord a refuge and fortress: “He will cover you with His feathers; you will take refuge under His wings” (v. 4).
Be still. Stop. Sit with me awhile,we hear the Father say. And when we do? “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29). When we rest in Him, our rest becomes our strength.
Friends, there is nothing we can do with our efforts that our almighty God cannot do by His Word. Likewise, there is nothing you or I can do to negate the truth of His Word. We cannot make it more true, we cannot make it less true. No, our job is to rest here in its truth.
Tonight my mom came to visit (I haven’t seen her bang any pots or pans lately, but she’s still a champ at relishing). When it came time for her to leave, I watched as the taillights of her car meandered down our gravel driveway. A flicker in the distance caught my eye—countless fireflies dotting the dark treeline along the creek. They looked choreographed yet whimsical, like strings of Christmas lights in July.
I stopped to watch, and I stayed awhile—no running, no doing, no striving. Just resting. It was one of the most beautiful and productive parts of my day.
This is an excerpt from Open Your Bible: God’s Word is for You and for Now, a 7-session group Bible study written by Raechel Myers and Amanda Bible Williams of She Reads Truth, in partnership with LifeWay. To purchase Open Your Bible for individual or group study (and receive FREE DOMESTIC SHIPPING and a beautiful, free journal with purchase through Nov 30!), visitlifeway.com/openyourbible.
- JennyBCI so enjoy starting my day in the Word instead of starting my mental to-do list. Rest seems illusion to me during the daytime. I sleep well but the endless stream of chores constantly calls my name. The ability to stop and savor a moment, gain a needed insight, truly listen to a friend (or be heard myself) is a gift. Lord, today let me practice resting in You instead forging ahead with the busyness that distracts me from more important things.
- Heather CThis life can be exhausting, can’t it? We spend so much time “doing” that we forget we are human “beings”. Let this be your invitation to rest…“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength.Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31)Here’s the thing about eagles… as birds go, eagles’ wings are big, but the muscles that make them flap aren’t. Pound for pound, an eagle’s strength is no match for the strength of a hummingbird. The strength of eagles is not in their flapping but in their soaring. An eagle will perch high atop a canyon below. When the rising wind is just right, the eagle will fold its wings to its sides, literally cast itself into the chasm and plummet into the abyss. Then… when the speed is just right… the bird will spread its wings, catch the thermals, rise up into the sky and soar.What a beautiful picture of hoping in God! Through no strength of our own, we cast ourselves upon Him, fall into His mercy and soar on His promises. Our strength comes from trusting and soaring, not flapping and working. It takes courage to just let go. Our temptation is to frantically beat our wings and try to keep ourselves from falling when it seems like the bottom has dropped out from under us… but if we will wait on the Lord, our weakness (which honestly, is all our efforts amount to) will be exchanged for His strength, and He will become the wind beneath our wings, help us to rise above the circumstances that threaten to keep us grounded.I don’t know about you, but I want to soar. Here’s to the wind beneath our wings – Jesus. Have a great day! <3
- ~ B ~This was perfect for me today. Upon waking each day, I feel as if I could have slept for many more hours and often immediately think to going to bed early in the coming evening. Today was one of those mornings, but as I sit here taking in each word, I listen to the rain hitting the tin cover on a window, the steady beat of the clock to my side and the quiet of a dark morning. These words make me stop and appreciate the symphony that is upon me this morning as all others still sleep. And it softens my heart to a request my teen daughter had yesterday and reminds me of what is most important. I’ll start by saying her best friend attends college about three hours from here and my Bella was missing her so after asking first, she booked her own bus ticket and headed north to see her. When my girl came home, not only did I hear all about the time with her friend, but I also heard her say multiple times how nice the bus ride was. She stated that she got to see so much of the state while listening to her favorite music and that the forced down time was really good for her. An understanding that I don’t think many teens connect with. Back to her request. Saturdays are, of late, really busy days for me and there is no real flexibility with them. This Saturday among the busiest. Yesterday my Bella asked, “Mom, could we wake early together and go somewhere to watch the sunrise?”, but my head was stuck in tasks and I reminded her that there was much to do that day, immediately her head nodded and she said, “You’re right. It’s too much” and she gave a disappointed smirk and walked away. My heart hurts to recall her expression and this has an idea brewing for me because these ideas valuable to encourage. Just the other day we were in the car and I was admiring the amazing sunset and said, “Bella, no matter how many sunsets you see, there are two that”, “are never the same” she chimed in. She finished my sentence. The girl gets it and I need to share that with her. Thank you for reminding me that resting in God’s word, God’s creation and in our days is imperative. That if I’m not doing that, I’m not teaching my children to do that and then we are all missing the cross. We are fluttering about looking for relief when it’s always right in front of us. Our resting place, no matter how tired, how worn or how stressed is the feet of Jesus.Prayerful that today I remember this. That today as I move through the day I desire to be a Mary, I want to see Jesus sitting, calling me to Him because only one thing is important and I want the good portion! ~ B
- ~ B ~I have to add, I took “resting in truth” to a whole new level today, I literally forgot to wake my people up. 20 minutes later than normal. Whoops! :) ~ B
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