Need Rest?

 

     It is 5:00 a.m. and I have been awake for hours. My bedtime seems to move ever earlier and I wake up long before the dawn. It may have to do with increasing age, or that once my mind turns on, there is no turning it off. How about you? In the coming year, I want to sleep more, yes. But even more imperative is to find true rest for my soul.

     David went through so much in his life. He opens up his emotions to us in the book of Psalms, in sharing his own sleepless nights crying out to God, in finding forgiveness for his guilt and in looking ahead to heaven. Read through these next verses with me and maybe we can find rest for ourselves today.

I will praise the Lord, who counsels me, even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices, my body also will rest secure, because You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will You let Your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life. You will fill me with joy in Your presence with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.  Psalm 16:7-11

     Peter makes reference to these very same verses after the resurrection of Jesus, in the 2^nd chapter of Acts. David saw eternity and the one who was to come. Knowing that Jesus is with us during our sleepless nights and through our stressful days, even unto death and beyond to eternity, will give us true rest.

     In those sleepless moments, He will instruct our hearts. When we look to Him, we can praise Him when we don’t understand. We are secure and safe. He is our refuge at all times, in our wakeful moments or our dream-filled nights. Let Him give you rest in the days to come; rest for your soul, forevermore.

Dear Jesus,

With our focus on You, we find rest. Teach us and guide us into true rest in the year to come. We turn our eyes to You during our darkest nights and our brightest days. Instruct our hearts with Your counsel.

Amen