Hebrews 4:10-16
H,
So, how do we truly enter into the rest of God? It may
seem than being active is more to be desired than being inactive but this sort
of rest has little or nothing to do with inactivity. It is clear from
experience that it is in most cases easier to do something spectacular than to
watch and wait and make the right move at the right time. There are social
situations where you should have been quiet but you had to fill the silence and
you ended up saying something stupid. There are times when you were rash and
did something dramatic that only made things worse. Yet, these are not what I mean.
I am talking of a harder resolve to not be in a hurry to prove yourself or have
your own way or make your opinion the opinion that matters. I am talking of a
world where we learn and listen more than we try to effect and control.
I know this is not the vibe of Christian movements right
now. We are told this world is our oyster to have and only belatedly in Jesus
name. Yet this is not the real story or even, for that matter, the story at
all. All the great scriptures visited about “taking charge” of the world have
the same caveat expressly stated in the same way we imply our giving over to some
higher will by ending our prayers with “In Jesus Name”. We state that all our
prayers are in His name but also in His nature. That same “I do only what I see
my father in Heaven do” spirit runs through our words whether we know it or
not. “Thy will be done” means exactly that. History is full of people who did
not understand this and ran amok in the name of Christ but not really and
certainly not in His nature. In rest we must encounter again both His name and
His nature.
To be at rest in God is the hardest thing you can do. It is
not what your body knows or your heart wants or your soul is programmed for. We
are all built in, by spiritual evolution from the fall or biological evolution
by Darwin, with the desire to live and then live well and then find meaning and
then actualize our full potential or fall into nihilism. I am sort of joking
there so it does not follow those steps but you get my drift. It is not easy to
be at rest in God. We need a high priest to show us how. We have a high priest
that shows us how. His whole life is about coming to rest in God. To study that
life again is to find the truth of the seventh day where God declared that all
was good.
I am seeking to find that rest again. How far have I fallen
from that beautiful tree of truth? Much, I think. I do know that years ago a
somewhat wise man told me it was at the end of the rope that you discover the
strong arm of God. I am hoping that is true because in all things I feel a
winding down of my will to engage with life in full. I feel a certain dark center rising above my optimism. This other rest is just falling asleep. No. I need
the rest of the seventh day.