Rest

This morning, I heard birds chirping outside of my window. I know that might sound like an idyllic way to wake up in the morning, light streaming through the window and little birds singing outside, but it's not. It was awful. There must have been nearly 500 of those little birds chirping right outside my window, all while I wanted to sleep just a little while longer, just as I wanted a little more rest. And it seemed as if they were birds of all different types, just chirping at each other, each one trying to outdo the other. And all of this as I tried to sneak in just a little more sleep.

For whatever reason, I find lack of sleep to be one of the roughest things to deal with. I mean, apart from real tragedies or serious illnesses. It's just hard to face the day when you haven't had the real, deep rest that you needed. You feel more irritable, less alive, more like you're just going through the motions.

I thought about that today in church, as I tried to keep myself awake. To be fair, I tried to keep myself awake the rest of the day too, so it wasn't church that made me sleepy. I was just sleepy.

And, in my sleepy state, I thought a lot about rest. I thought about how good I had felt last night, as I pulled my soft and squishy comforter up around my neck and positioned my head just so on my pillow. I thought about how even the colors of my bedding make me feel peaceful, the soft aqua sheets with pretty flowers and the light green blanket. And, of course, my personal favorite is that cushy white comforter. Just thinking about my bed makes me feel at peace, makes me anticipate a good rest.

But, as I sat there in the pew at church, I thought about how it's sometimes hard to feel restful when confronted with questions of faith, of religion, of God. Those questions are sometimes so unsettling that we cannot find rest, as we constantly question what is right, what is true, what is best. Sometimes it feels as if there are so many voices, all trying to get us to listen to them, all trying to make us see why their way is the right way. And in the midst of all of those voices, it's hard to find anything resembling rest because we are pulled in so many different directions.

I have to think that things shouldn't be that difficult, that somewhere there is that rest and peace which God promises us. And, as I sat in that pew today, I thought of the hymn we had sung the week before, as I stood in that same sanctuary. We sang the song, "My Faith Has Found a Resting Place." As I sung it last week and as I recalled its words today, I felt a peace that comes from hearing a great truth, the kind of rest that comes from knowing how simple things truly can be.

The whole hymn is wonderful, but I'll share the first verse and chorus with you:

"My faith has found a resting place,
Not in device or creed;
I trust the ever living One,
His wounds for me shall plead.

I need no other argument,
I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that He died for me."

It's so very simple, and yet it says everything. It is enough that Jesus died, and that He died for me. Beautiful, really. Beautiful because of its truth, beautiful because it calls me to a greater faith in Jesus, beautiful because I can have a resting place.

And beautiful because I know that, even when those voices and arguments cause me to question my belief in many things, my belief in Jesus is what gives me rest. I know that I can hold onto the truth of Hebrews 4:14-16 which says,

"14Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

And that confidence in what is true, in what good and right, all of that gives me rest. It gives me the kind of rest that's even better than the kind of rest I'm about to get as I pull my comforter up around my chin tonight. And that is the kind of rest that I think all of us could use, the kind of rest we get when we accept God's grace, when we know that it's simple enough to find our resting place.