Resting in God – Christian Book Discounters

Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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 11:28)

I am tired of getting on planes and feeling the need to continue working during the flight. I’d rather spend time talking to other passengers and showing love to them. The business world is full of people like me, working lots of hours because it is our “job.” There are a lot of ways to fool ourselves into thinking that we are doing something noble by working 60 to 70 hours per week. We even try to fool our Christian friends by saying we are working as if we are doing it for the Lord.

I didn’t want to address the topic of resting. As a consultant, I get on a lot of planes, work late nights and feel as if I make a difference in the business world. However, one weekend when I was invited to a contemplative retreat, it struck me that I have a hard time simply resting. Some of my friends on the retreat wrestled with God and contemplated Scripture. But what I felt God was saying to me was, “Rest in my arms.” The first step in receiving this rest for my soul was to come to Christ. The word that I kept hearing was, Stop! Stop doing all of the things that are keeping you so busy and distracted. Stop the work you do for the world. I (Christ) don’t want to add more to your list of obligations to be a Christian. I simply want you to rest in My presence and know you are loved. So I put down my Bible, let peace come over me, and lay down on a park bench and slept.