This isn’t meant to be a platitude lacking in power or practicality. I write this because I need this: a way to rest and even recharge when I can’t stop.
A few weeks ago I had a cold. It lasted about a week and I’ll clue you into my insides. I experienced everything from self-pity to annoyance to sadness to thanksgiving to resentment to flat out tiredness. Maybe you can relate.
In moments that were overwhelming, extra trying, or stressful, the pressure felt too great and my resources felt too scarce. The break I felt I needed wasn’t available, or at least wasn’t available when I wanted it.
My mind gravitated often to the idea of a place for my soul to rest.
There are verses speaking of God’s wings as our safe place:
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy! I look to you for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until the danger passes by. Psalm 57:1-2
Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. Psalm 91:1-2
For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings [where I am always protected] I sing for joy. My soul [my life, my very self] clings to You; Your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:7-8
I recently read a book by Jeanne Guyon. She writes about the power of the ‘gentle retreat inward to a present God.’ We know from the Bible that God’s Spirit lives in us (John 14:23, 1 Corinthians 3:16), but we sometimes forget this in our living, acting like we have to work really hard, reaching higher and farther to get to Him.
In James 4:8, we read, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”
When chaos, stress and weariness abound, may we retreat inward to what Jill Briscoe calls ‘the steps of your soul in the Deep Place where nobody goes,’ the presence of God in you, hang out there, and go about our responsibilities from that place of peace.
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