Cybercolumn by John Duncan: Blessed rest_111504

Posted: 11/12/04

CYBERCOLUMN:
Blessed rest

By John Duncan

I’m sitting her under the old oak tree, thinking of rest. Augustine once said, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in God.” I wonder if Augustine needed rest when he wrote those words.

As a pastor, I hear the words “I’m tired” as much as I ever have heard them. I am beginning to wonder if a persistent weariness circulates mysteriously like a virus, silently encircling the earth.

Baptists notoriously know how to fill up a calendar with “busy-ness.” Baptists schedule enough stuff to make them feel like marathon runners near the end of a race.

In “Painted House,” author John Grisham affirms the Baptist reputation for busy schedules and saintly weariness. He writes: “Nobody met as much as us Baptists. We took great pride in constant worship. Pearl Watson, my favorite Methodist, said she’d like to be Baptist, but that she just wasn’t physically able.”

Here under the old oak, tree I find myself thinking about rest. What does the Bible say?

Joseph desired to rest and be buried with his fathers (Genesis 47:30). Exodus spoke of a Sabbath rest when all work ceased (Exodus 34:21). God told the people of Israel, “My presence will go with you and give you rest.” (Exodus 34:20). God gave rest from enemies, a long, hard nap on a pillow after a hard-fought war (Dueteronomy 25:19). Even the land deserved rest from war (Joshua 14:15). Such rest called for praise to God from his people (1 Kings 8:56). Job lamented, much like many people today, “I have no peace; no quietness; I have no rest, only turmoil.” Was Job trying to put three toddlers down for a midday nap?

The psalmist acknowledged, “My soul finds rest in God alone” (Psalm 62:1). He picturesquely described God as a bird spreading her wings over her young to protect, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1).

Isaiah thundered, “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust in your strength” (Isaiah 30:16). Jeremiah spoke of a battle and a sword, asking, “How long till you rest?” (Jeremiah 47:6). Ezekiel gently wafted a verbal blessing, “May a blessing rest on your household” (Ezekiel 44:30).

Jesus rested on a pillow in a boat dead center in the Sea of Galilee in the midst of a storm. The winds and waves seemed not to bother him. The disciples, though, that was another story. They panicked, immediately woke up Jesus, and pondered their possible deaths in wide-eyed fear. “Peace be still,” Jesus spoke, ending the chaos and calming the storm. Jesus gives rest. That is what he does best. He later invited us into his rest, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:30).

So, here I am under the old oak tree. All this “rest” talk makes me weary. I think I’ll clean the acorns and lay my head on a few leaves and take a nap. Hey, maybe, I will live to the ripe old age of 100. Recently I read where 100-year-old B.C. Watts, a man who voted in 19 presidential elections, said the key to his long life was his nap every afternoon.

As for you, Robert Frost puts it best: “It’s rest I want—there, I have said it out—/From cooking meals for hungry hired men/And washing dishes after them—from doing/Things over and over that just won’t stay done.”

The undone creates restlessness.

While thinking of the injustice in the world, the poet Langston Hughes appropriately lamented, “Jesus, ain’t you tired yet?”

All in all, our Lord never faints nor is weary. He gives rest (Isaiah 40:31). For this, I am eternally grateful. Thanksgiving blessings of rest to each of you.

John Duncan is pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church in Granbury, Texas, and the writer of numerous articles in various journals and magazines