Rest in Peace

Here is a copy of Ray's latest newspaper article, just in time for vacation season.

The car packed tight, kids buckled in and off everyone goes on family vacation. Have you ever wondered why folks (like you and I) travel long distances and spend lots of money only to sometimes return home in worse shape than when we left? Perhaps we have the wrong idea about vacation. I am not referring to the beaches or mountains but the philosophy behind many vacations. For many people going on vacation means leaving the world behind and simply emptying oneself of all of the stresses within. People vacate but do they rest. The Bible says that God gives rest (Psalm 127:2). The rest that God gives is redemptive and restorative.

Rest, like any other of God's good gifts can be idolized, (living for the weekend mentality), rejected ( "I am indispensable."), or received, enjoyed and applied for the purpose for which it is designed by a good and gracious Father who gives good gifts! Rest is a good gift! Chew on that!

I needed a reminder that rest is a good gift. This week (like most) has been a tidal wave of activity. To make honest confession, I have lived as if I do not believe in the kind of rest spoken of in Psalm 127. Perhaps most telling is the night I collapsed on the sofa, to be awakened three times and asked if I wanted to come to bed. This after days of rising up early and staying up late. Though I was sleeping, I am not sure that I was resting. The rest spoken of in Psalm 127:2 is a remedy from falling into a sort of mindless coma due to complete exhaustion.

The rest that is sought after by so many is that which empties but does not refill. They will fail to rest because they have put off daily stresses but failed to put on godly rest. Putting off is merely vacating, moving out, leaving the premises. It does not prepare you to return home. You see we must not only check out, we must check in. We must check in to the nourishing words of Scripture, massage our minds deep in the waters of the gospel, allow the sweet winds of God's grace (on beaches, lakes, mountains, backyards) to blow through our hair, renew our energy, strengthen our minds and bodies so that we can return with a sense of purpose, not drudgery. On the one hand we find this redemptive rest daily as we breath deep, look heavenward and recall God's promises. Nightly we, in gospel grace, lay our heads to the pillow and receive rest. Each morning we rise early to drink the pure milk of God's Word. Throughout the day we meditate on the riches found in God's treasury. Occasionally we retreat away from normal surroundings to go on a vacation and we rest. It is a gift not to be idolized nor neglected but to be received. Not to receive God's gift is a sin. It is to reject His love. It is to be self-reliant rather than God-dependent. It is to think that it is ultimately we who build houses and keep cities secure, who establish homes and provide for their needs. That is more than just sinful, that is atheistic. Do you see how important it is to receive God's gift of rest. At the end of the day the well-being of the world, your business and even your family is not dependent on you but on the one who says, "Come to Me and I will give you rest."