Rest

Music in the Rest

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But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
Habakkuk 2:20 KJV

Since I come from the “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands” generation it has taken me decades to learn the value of quiet. Only now am I beginning to see that silence is also worship.

In the busy symphony of life God places some whole rests in between our Allegro movements. We must learn to play not only the grace notes but also the pauses placed in our score. God being both kind and gentle hears our voices even when no words are uttered.

Yes one day we will return to the happier pace of marches or the soaring crescendo of horns and timpani. But even in a moment of silence God is still keeping time. Our hope is not in the loudness of the part assigned us but in the kind and loving conductor who leads us in Christ to hear heaven’s music even in the rest!

Gift of Rest

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Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls Matthew 11:29

In all our hurry towards Christmas, it is easy for us to forget to rest for a moment at the manger. Remember how He waited the unhurried nine months in the waiting room of Mary’s womb. Then at His birth the shepherds were the first to know as they rested with their flocks.

For the next 30 quiet years Jesus lived in the tiny village of Nazareth. He didn’t burst forth with proclamations of greatness instead he worked in the back of Joseph’s carpenter shop. He had brothers and sisters with whom He shared a straw mattress on the floor and the same meals that Mary cooked for everyone. Never do we hear of a complaint an attitude of frustration.

He simply waited and rested in the place where God had put Him. It was there in Nazareth that He learned to give thanks for bread and fish. In the ordinary circumstances of His life He learned how to wash feet, celebrate weddings and how to handle wood and nails.

Whenever we feel the push to get into the holiday swing of things we need to stop and take a deep breath. Then in a moment of calm remember that the same Jesus who rested in the storm has also invited us to come and rest our souls in Him!

Enjoying the Sabbath

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In Mark’s Gospel Jesus pointed out that the opposition he was facing over what He was doing on the Sabbath was from a basic misunderstanding of the command to rest on the seventh day. The Pharisees were acting as if the 4th commandment began when Moses received it on the mountain. But in reality the concept of Sabbath was woven into the very fabric of God’s creation. Genesis tells us that on the seventh day God rested (P.S. he wasn’t tired!). 

Here was God at the end of His creation process, creating one more thing as a gift for man. He created a day to rest together with Adam and Eve. Maybe Adam and Eve just walked through the garden in delighted wonderment saying things like, “Wow that waterfall is amazing God!” or “That giraffe has the longest neck I’ve ever seen!”. God wasn’t interested in their doing something to impress Him. He simply wanted to share that day with them. Later on maybe they sat down by a brook and kicked their feet in the cool water, then lay down on the soft grassy bank and took a nap and there was God right beside them, resting and blessing that first Sabbath day.

When was the last time any of us really took time to receive the gift of Sabbath that God made for us? Does that mean we should just sit around the house afraid to go out? Not at all! In fact Jesus constantly got into trouble by going around helping people on the Sabbath. It was His way of sharing His day with God. Why do we allow the worries of life or the expectations of other people rob from us that joy? We are each unique and in our own way why not celebrate a Sabbath as God intended and simply delight in sharing one day entirely with Him?