His Rest

Early this morning, before the dawn, I awoke early anticipating a busy day of research papers, ad design, debates, and sewing color guard uniforms. Since I was to first in my family to awaken, I quietly slipped outside to retrieve the newspaper to discover that I was the first to rise on our block, as all indoor lights were dark. The clear dark sky made the moon look like crystal with a brilliant light shining through it, and the stars were so vivid and intense, that I could see a glow around their outline. The sounds were immense, crickets and frogs were singing a loud disjointed lullaby, strangely, it was calming and much like the calm sound of a thunderous rushing stream. I wondered if this was God’s way of singing his children to sleep like a mother calming her child with soft rhythmic words.

Now, later this morning, it’s daylight, and everyone on the block has left for the day, and I decide to steal a moment for a Beth Moore Bible study on the deck. The study started with the verse: In quietness and trust is your salvation. Isaiah 30:15, and Beth Moore is referencing the Bible verse, enter His rest. A fog slowly rolls in hushing the morning song of the birds. The crickets are still, no geese are squawking overhead; the normally hooting owl is silent, only an occasional unsure chirp is heard along with a small rustle of oak leaves. It is quiet. The earth is resting for a moment. Around me was the earth illustrating the study of entering His rest.

I started to think of the time before the Industrial Revolution and the Techno days, and wondered about that life on a foggy day. Certainly, there would have been no hunting, gathering sticks, no fishing nor any work outside of the home in the dense fog, only staying home to rejuvenate, reorganize, wait, and trust. This fog that makes us rise earlier since we have to drive slower, so that we won’t be late for work is the same heavy haze that our forefathers used to know when to rest.

Technology has made us forget that we are a part of nature, making us less in tune with the laws of the Earth. We have forgotten that we are a part of nature. The same who created the world created us. As the earth is creation, we are creation. Fog means that it’s time to unify as a people to enter His rest; it’s a time to reflect and worship in His greatness. However, now it causes us to rush as to not be late for a daily schedule. The moment we were meant to stop and reflect became the moment we hasten. No wonder it is difficult for us to understand the concept, enter His rest.

So, the next time I see fog, I will be reminded to truly enter His rest, and for a moment, forget my perceived responsibilities. Let it go, and enter his rest. As the cloud rolls in to cover my concerns, I will give my anxieties to the mist, and allow the fog to dissipate my fears and concerns. Entering His rest does not mean that I am abandoning my responsibilities, but it means that I know that there is nothing more than I can do, and to trust. The fear for the grandmother in the hospital, a father with prostate cancer, a rebellious teen, an angry mother, neglectful father, wayward sister, alcoholic sibling, the abandoned niece, algebra, syntheses of a paper, the presentation. Don’t worry about the day’s issues; enter his rest. Just give it to God; give it ALL to God, and enter his rest. Cast it away, and only retrieve what He gives back for the appointed day’s responsibility. No more, for this is enough. Carry the load that He wants you to carry, and stay in His rest.

By Darla Clement, November 5, 2006

Biblical Hebrew Words

Bitchia = trust, there is nothing more than I can do

Shaqat = quietness, to lie quietly, be undisturbed, to calm

Nachath = rest, lighting down