Resting

     Don't know if you can quite see this picture because of the shadows, but this is our dear old black lab, Moses.  Resting.  Yes, Moses has cornered the market on resting.  And his favorite position for resting is in the sun--warms those old bones, I suppose, and don't we all need that!  Here's Moses, finding just a nice little patch of sunshine flowing in through one of the dining room windows, so he's found his sweet spot.  And life is very good.
     Moses' other favorite spot to rest is at the feet of any member of our family.  Wherever we are sitting, well, that's where he wants to be.  And at his advanced age and with his creaky, achy joints, getting up and moving is quite the effort--but if we move, he'll generally move too--and then immediately collapse down to the, you guessed it,  resting position.  Just as an example, when our son decided to watch a football game on the floor,  here's who joined him:

     You can learn an awful lot from a dog.
     Like what it means to rest.  And to rest in love, to rest with those with we love, and most importantly to rest with the Lord that we love.  To slow down, to really listen, to remember, to thank, to rejoice, to pray, and to be revived and restored.
     I just read some words from a woman named Emily Freeman who talked about being quiet.  One thing she wrote really struck me: "The urgent bursts into the room, dramatic and demanding.  The important whispers, steading and waiting."  Isn't that so true--we tend to rush through out lives--hurrying, trying desperately to cram it all in, worrying about everything that needs to be accomplished and all that is being left undone, fretting over so many little things.  What a terrible way to lurch through life, harried and frazzled and constantly on edge.
     Ever striving, but never slowing.  Ever rushing, but never resting.  And therefore missing so much daily joy that God pours out over our lives, like an everflowing waterfall of His grace and goodness.  And we just miss it in our haste and busyness and anxiousness.
   You know, all those "little" things that worry us and keep us up at night--I used to thing they were such big, enormous problems, and now I see them for what they truly are: small and inconsequential challenges to allow us to either fret ourselves to death or rely on our Almighty God.  Each a tiny opportunity to see Him work rather than worry ourselves.  Help us Lord in those "little" daily challenge/opportunites!
     And the best way we can gain that proper perspective on our challenge/opportunities is to daily spend some time quietly resting in Him.  Doing the important, rather than the urgent.  Even while the laundry or the emails or the project screams at us--NOW, do me right now!!  Hurry, worry!--we choose to say NO.  And turn to the important that is steady and waiting for us--spend time with those we love, chatting, laughing, sharing.  Pull out our Bibles and read.  Reflect on His Words.  Reflect on His goodness and grace to us this very day.  The pink that painted the sky last night at sunset.  The sweet old dog sitting at our feet.  The phone call from our sister or our friend.  The taste of chocolate cake (o yes, always that!).  The gift of a favorite song at church.  The hilarious thing your child said.  The ability to take that next deep breathe.  The fresh, cool air of fall.  The Word of God, ever new.  The gift of eternal, abundant life.  And grace--o the riches of the utterly undeserved, unbelievable grace of God.
     If we don't slow down, we won't see it.  We won't reflect and remember and then rejoice.  I love how Ann Voskamp put it: "Joy--it's always a function of gratitude.  And gratitude is always a function of perspective.  If we are going to change our lives, what we're going to have to change is the way we see."
     And I don't know about you, but I can't see much if I'm zooming down the highway at 70 miles per hour.  I have to slooooow down.  I have to choose to be quiet and rest and reflect and then see.  Because the Father loves to show His children His love when they come, like Moses, and rest at His feet.
     Just for the record, I'm pretty lousy at this resting stuff. But, by the grace of God, I'm determined to try and to learn more and more what it means to quietly rest and reflect and rejoice in Him.   Because His Word tells us: "For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, 'In quietness and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust shall be your strength.'  But you were unwilling." (Isaiah 30:15)  Lord, we don't want You to say that about us.  Help us to be willing, Father.  Help us to enjoy being strengthened by You in quietness and trust.  
     So today, might we all take time to rest and reflect and then rejoice.  He's given you a whole new 24 hours to see how good and great He is.  Might you slow down to see it and then thank Him.
     To God be the glory.