An Invitation to Soul-Rest

 

“Ask about the ancient paths, ‘Which is the way to what is good?’ Then take it and find rest for yourselves.”

Jeremiah 6:16 CSB

 I am a walker. After spending most of my life in the ballet studio inside (which I absolutely loved), my favorite form of exercise and soul-destressing now is walking. Sometimes it’s a full-on power walk, including all the gear – earphones, heart-pumping music, and my new fanny pack. Yes! Fanny pack! The best! But sometimes there’s no “power” in the walk. Sometimes it’s more of a stroll, a lingering, a soulful kind of walk. I love both and both include my pup, Shaka, leading the way, and sometimes one or all of my sons by my side. I walk for exercise, yes. I think walking is indeed one of the best forms of exercise to get those endorphins flowing and to keep our bodies strong. But I’m a walker more for my soul than my body. And whatever kind of walk it looks like, I’ve learned a secret: the most de-stressing, soul-centering, stress-reducing, fueling walks are the ones when I’m not in a hurry.

 If I’m in a time crunch, a quick walk around the block quickly becomes a stressful situation. I’m trying to beat the clock so I can get to the next thing in my day. This kind of walk, while any amount of walking is good for me exercise-wise, is a little depleting soul-wise. The best kinds of walks are when there’s no timeline, no upcoming agenda, and time and space to linger a bit longer. The deeper I get into the walk, if you will, the more my soul finds its center back into God’s presence and company and the more any stress or anxiety that I had been holding onto, melts off my shoulders.

In the very same way, when we give ourselves the time and space to linger with God, the deeper we go into the pursuit of knowing Him, the more we will find Him. The more we will reap the rewards of a closer walk with Him. This is one of those posts that may come out a bit mumbly/jumbly, so thank you for your grace as I tap out these thoughts.  My heart feels extra aware these days of the toll stress, anxiety, hurry, and worry can take on our dancing hearts.

This is what I want you to know today, sweet daughter of Christ:

God does not want you to live with a deep sense of stress and anxiety.

He has so much more peace and joy for you. He created you to live in the peaceful rhythms of His grace, right at His pace, right in step with Him. Our culture tells us differently. Our culture urges us to keep moving, to hurry, to run, to go, and it makes us feel like stress is just something we should accept and deal with the best we can.

But here’s the thing. Yes, God doesn’t want us to live with stress and anxiety, always in a hurry, and always stressed out. But He needs us to choose a better way. He needs us to evaluate our lives, determine what’s causing our stress, and to choose a better way – His way.

In Jeremiah 6, the Lord calls the people to “Stand by the roadways and look. Ask about the ancient paths, ‘Which way is the way to what is good?’ Then take it and find rest for yourselves.’” In this particular chapter, God is addressing disobedience. So we can gather from that that in order to find rest for ourselves, for our souls, there is a step of obedience that comes with that. Obedience sounds like this parental, outdated word, right? I get that. But here’s another thing I want you to see today, sweet ones:

That on the other side of obedience, of choosing God’s way, is the loving Father. The One who wants more for you. The One who wants you to experience a deeper peace than you’ve ever known. The One who wants you to experience a greater joy than you’ve ever known. The One who wants you to live free from stress, anxiety, hurry, worry, and angst. And this choice to go deeper with God, to make space and time to linger with Him longer and to protect our hearts and souls and minds from overload and stress is an invitation to the deep waters of God’s refreshing company. It’s an invitation to deeper, abundant life and to the deepest kind of soul-rest.

 What’s short-cutting your peace? What’s short-cutting your joy? Just like sometimes my walks were short-cut by my agenda or because I just needed to hurry up and get on with my day, I missed out on a deeper reward from my walk – the reward of endorphins, energy, de-stressing, and on and on! What is feeding your stress and unrest and causing you to miss out on real, soul-rest?

When we take the time to ask ourselves the hard questions, to sit with the tensions we’re feeling a bit, and to bring them to the One who wants to take us deeper, we will find the refreshing waters of His peace and joy. Still waters. He wants still waters for you. For your life. He does not want you to live with a heart that feels turbulent and stressed and anxious. (“He leads me beside still waters.” Psalm 23:2 ESV)

Now I never want to undermine the kind of stress you’re feeling or just tell you to brush it aside and move on. I understand that we are all experience varying degrees of stress – some big, life-changing, difficult stresses, and some every day, overwhelming stresses. But this is what I want for you…

No matter what your stress, I want you to experience the deep, down soul-rest that Jesus has come to offer you. Soul-rest is a soul-deep knowing that God has us and that He’s ultimately in control. I think we all have tasted it at moments in life, but then we get back to the stress somehow. Today, I want you to taste it and stay there. I want you to stay in the pool of God’s refreshing still waters.

I imagine all the hands going up! Mine too! How do we do that in a practical sense?

Here are just some ideas, and I want to hear your ideas too:

1. Ponder over this idea that God does not want you to live with stress and anxiety. Take some moments today, to just think about that. Ask Him to show you what that looks like for you.
2. Set boundaries with your time. Here’s what I mean. In a society where we have access to so much information at all times, set some boundaries. Limit your screen time. Have a social media/email free weekend. Remember the deeper why behind the boundaries – to know God’s deeper peace that He has for you.
3. Walk. Get outside. Linger in the sun. Take a long walk around the neighborhood, not so much for the exercise, although that’s a great reason! But mostly for the soul. For your soul. Let God speak into your heart as you walk.
4. Slow your pace. This one’s hard. Realize that nothing is particularly urgent. (I realize some things are, but the general everyday stuff doesn’t need to be rushed.) A hurried heart quickly becomes an unrested heart. Slow down. Take your time. There’s no rush. God is God. He’s in control of time. He’s in control of your time.
5. Find an inviting spot to meet with God. Find a chair, a bench, a porch. Grab your Bible, grab a journal, grab some coffee. Write down your thoughts. Linger with a good devotional book. Savor the sitting down with God. Let your heart rest there awhile. Let God take the lead of this time. Let Him speak to your heart.

Like a good, long walk outside, stepping into the deep, refreshing waters of God’s presence takes time and space. It takes setting aside some things. It takes slowing down. It takes quietness. And in our day and age, y’all, I am fully aware of how difficult this is to quiet down so that we can find God. But I don’t want you to miss Him. It’s worth it to set some boundaries, to slow our pace, and to set aside time to meet with the One who loves you from the east to the west, who wants the very best for you, who wants you to flourish, but not just flourish, who wants you to live with the deepest kind of soul-rest every single day. It’s possible. He makes it possible. Choose Him. And truly live.

“I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance.” John 10:10 CSV