Rest

Rest. It’s a trendy word yet also Taboo
 
I love words. I love the meaning behind words. Too often we throw words around like confetti without actually realizing the power they hold, or the meaning behind them. The simplest form of this, as we can all attest to is love. I love tacos. I love my friends. I love Jesus. While this is all 100% true (as I sit here writing this eating tacos #TacoTuesday) my affinity towards each one is drastically different. And even in that category my feelings are different. There are friends I have who yell “LOVE YOU” out their car window, but don’t text you back to grab lunch, but I still love them…and other friends who quietly remind you they love you through their sincere actions. There are tacos you get on the side of the road in Mexico, and then there is TacoBell. No shame here, I love both…do you see what I mean? The English language has caused us to loose touch with the root of words, with the intended meaning and instead we clump it all together into one jumbled mess. And I think we have done the same with rest, because if you look it up, you will see that the definition of rest is to recover strength, to be supported, to be refreshed.
 
Rest. Why have we twisted what this means, why have we hidden ourselves from rest. Why do we withhold from ourselves the opportunity to lean on the strength of Jesus on the Cross, the continual support of our Heavenly Father, and the refreshing work of the Holy Spirit?
 
This weekend I was frequently reminded of how tangled up the meaning of rest has become in today’s culture. We have too much going on, we have too many commitments, we just don’t have time…frankly I just think we have too many excuses. Because if rest is supposed to be healthy, if it is one of God’s commandments, then why do we run? Why do we run from rest? well its uncomfortable. Its scary. Ultimately its surrender. It is the decision to surrender control, to hand our life back to God. We can’t just rest once, there is a reason we are called to this rest continually. We are easily distracted and extremely forgetful. Without rest we get it twisted, without rest we forget that God truly is in control. Without rest we forget that God wants to do exceedingly more than all we can ask or imagine.
 
We have become too self-absorbed and adopted the savior complex for ourselves when in reality we are just perpetuating the cycle. We are continuing to run, we are continuing to work, we are continuing to be disobedient to what God has called us to. We as a society need to learn the art of slowing down and resting. But not in the traditional view that we see as rest. We need to start resting in the transforming power of the Gospel. We need to start resting in the confidence of the God we serve. We need to stop hustling and start resting in grace. We need to stop fighting battles when in a war that’s already been won.
 
I encourage you, Slow down. Stop hustling. Rest. Truly, freely rest.
 
Xo,
Kat