Day 89 — Time To Rest
Psalm 23:1-4
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 will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
I love being busy. I love a full-looking calendar and I relish ticking things that I’ve accomplished off my to-do list. I am not very good at resting and often find it difficult to stop completely. Once every few years, my family and I take a trip back to my home country, Zimbabwe and we always take time to travel to the rural areas. It is a time to bond, take time away from the hustle and bustle of normal life and a time to rest. The fresh air, the wide-open space, the slower pace of life and the terrible mobile phone signal combine into the perfect place to rest and recuperate. Rest is important. Rest allows you to reflect and refocus on things that are important. Rest allows the body to reset and repair itself. What does it look like to find true rest?
In Psalm 23, we see a beautiful picture of rest. David recognises that the Lord is his shepherd and the shepherd is the one who leads the sheep to a place of rest. Philip Keller (In ‘A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23’) writes that, ‘Sheep do not lie down easily and will not unless four conditions are met. Sheep are timid, they will not lie down if they are afraid. They are social animals; they will not lie down if there is friction among the sheep. If flies trouble them, they will not lie down. Finally, if sheep are anxious about food or hungry, they will not lie down. Rest comes because the shepherd has dealt with fear, friction, flies, and famine’.
True rest can be found in God, he is the one that will deal with the conditions that need to be met in order for us to rest.
Prayer: Father, thank you that true rest comes from you, help us to find time and space to rest in you and guide us as do. Amen.
Tendi Mudzvovera