Life.
Beautiful, wonderful, exhilarating life.
We live on a roller coaster with no stop button. When we’re tired, stressed, broken, or sick, it keeps coming relentlessly. No one shuts down the ride when its storming or its too dark to see. There is no slowing down the pace or taking a breather, life doesn’t answer to our demands for a little peace and quiet, a little rest.
Ugly, devastating, exhausting life.
We can only travel at this breakneck speed for so long before we feel the strain. It’s visible in the mirror in the dark circles under our eyes, the worry lines on our foreheads, and the emotional reactions over seemingly insignificant things. What can we do? We can’t just disappear from the world until we recover from the barrage. Bills have to be paid, laundry and dishes pile up, and family and friends demand the attention they deserve.
So we trudge on
and on
and on.
Our bodies are tired, but more importantly our souls are tired. When we have no rest for an extended period of time it is not just our physical bodies that suffer, it is our spirituality. When we’re worn down and listless reading the Bible and talking to God are often the last things we want to do. We want a vacation, or at least the phone to stop ringing for one day. We want the cleaning to magically get done while we spend time in the sun at the beach. We want to be lazy for a little while and ignore the demands of life. All of these things can help us, provide us temporary relief and give us the strength to face another day.
So we take a breather, then trudge on
and on
and on.
And our souls fade, a little at a time. Why is it that the last thing we reach for is God?
Jesus sighs, “How often I have longed to gather you together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing” (Luke 13:34). The best place for a baby chick is under her mother’s wings. It’s warm and cozy there. It’s safe. She can sleep and relax, knowing that the mother is keeping a watchful eye for any dangers. We have access to this place, to the open arms of God, but are we willing?
I’m sitting next to a window, and right outside under a bush is a mother duck sitting on her eggs. She’s been there for hours, sometimes resting her head on her chest with one eye open, but at the slightest sound she is up and watchful, ready to protect her babies. Every now and then she gets up, checks every single egg, then ruffles up her feathers and sits down again. The ducklings don’t know how vigilant she is, or how much she worries over them. All they have to do is grow; the mother will make sure they are safe.
Do we know how vigilant God is, and how much God worries over us? Do we know that the safest place to be is under God’s wings? It’s warm and cozy there, after all. We can take a breath and relax, we can let our souls be revitalized.
Are we willing?
Sparks of Eden 