How is your work-cycle of life? Do you get weary rushing to complete your weekly schedule only to have to do it all over again? It's easy to get stuck in the rut of repetition, where time speeds up and your joy slows down. There is practical advice to break the monotony: Drive a different way to work; brush your teeth with the opposite hand; stand a different direction in the shower; wash your clothes the old-fashioned way in the river. (Ok, I made that last one up.) Experts have great advice on unique ways to invigorate our cycles in life.
There is One expert that excels above the rest, however. The Lord Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, invites us to find perpetual rest in Him. Jesus says in Matthew 11:28, "Come to me, all you who are weary, and I will give you rest." Anytime we feel overwhelmed and overburdened, Jesus is there for us. He lives to do this for us perpetually! All His incredible energy - powerful enough to create all things just by speaking words - is focused and harnessed to help us. What kind of love is this? The kind of love that offers us rest consistently.
At creation, Jesus also created the Sabbath. He rested the 7th day to be with us. That 7th day continues every week as an open invitation to lean fully in His powerful and capable word. Will we believe He can offer us rest? Even if it means stepping away from our busy, weekly cycles of work? Is He capable of giving us rest even if it means one less day working to be with Him? That's between each of us and our Creator. I want to trust more myself in His Words. I want to put more weight into His ability over my own. I want to deepen my experience with a weekly cycle of rest in my Creator. Will I trust Him more and will I find more rest in Him than I could fathom?
His Word also says He is coming soon! The rest we will experience on that day will be unlike anything we can imagine now. We will finally feel energized completely. Our souls will have a stillness in our Savior that we will savor forever and ever more. I'm feeling more peaceful even now just thinking about it! Lord, we lean into Your Word today, trusting You are there for us now, every week, and for eternity. Thank you for offering us a perpetual cycle of rest to counterbalance our work-cycles in life!
-Pastor Michael Brackett