Multi-vitamins and Green Pastures
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Psalms 23:1-6
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Matthew 11:28-30
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
I guess I could have called to mind about 10 or so scripture verses that would apply to my situation this morning. What possessed me to forego my morning routine of meeting with God before I began my day for all those months? I am so out of that habit that when I logged on this morning my first impulse was to check my email. I stopped myself though, because at a minimum posting today is a matter of pride. At its core, it is the renewal of my part of a covenant with God.
I have been tired. I don’t mean sleep deprived, though that is true! I’ve been tired of breathing, walking, even thinking. Not in a suicidal or even a depressed way at all. I’ve just been worn out in my soul. I know it’s because I haven’t been turning enough over to God. I’ve been persevering, carrying on; maintaining the status quo. I’ve craved those still waters and green pastures. I have not lost my faith that God will provide for me, care for, sustain and love me. I had just stopped going to the next level: resting in him.
Enough of bewailing everything I haven’t been doing! This morning as I jumped from verse to verse, every single word of scripture sounded so beautiful and seemed so applicable to my life! Every one! I was blown away by how glorious the word of God sounded to me this morning and I realized that’s what I’ve been missing: relishing scripture, being enfolded and embraced and empowered by it. I guess the best way I can describe it is that scripture for my life is like a multi-vitamin for my body. I can get by without the extra nutrients and minerals but after a couple of weeks, I don’t have that little extra that I need to walk the extra ½ mile or clean an extra room or do an extra load of laundry.
I know that sounds pretty mundane. But that’s why my discovery of what I was missing has been so elusive. Slowly, day by day, it becomes easier and easier to not do that little extra because I just don’t have that extra boost! In my case, the boost has been my mornings with God. Trust me, 5 a.m. came very early this morning!
On my way in for a 2nd cup of coffee I realized I’m rambling and really struggling to explain the subtleties of a life grounded in and centered upon Christ. I haven’t done a very good job and I know it’s because I’m out of the habit not only of experiencing it fully, also of sharing the glorious, wonderful, amazing, unspeakable depth of God’s love and the deep well of grace from which he allows us to drink, even when we don’t think we’re thirsty.
Today my prayer is that you will go to him, all who labor and are heavy laden. He will give you rest. And remember that no matter how hard your life is his yoke is easy and his burden is light.
Mary
Labels: God, Jesus, rest
