Perfect Rest

None of us are superhuman. We all have many limitations. When I was just a kid I could play ball and run up and down the hills and hollers all day long without slowing down. As a teen ager I could work in the hay fields and tobacco patch all day and still have energy to play baseball or basketball at night. When I became an adult I would work each day and still be able to come home and do things around the house that needed to be done. However, there was one common thread that ran true in all the things I have mentioned; at day's end I was always tired. I needed rest. Now, in my senior citizen years I find that I really don't have to do much to get tired. I look forward to a nice nap in the afternoon and I am always ready to "hit the hay" around 10 o'clock at night.

We all need our rest. Not only do we get tired physically, we get tired mentally and emotionally. A good night's sleep renews us from our physical fatigue, but most often relief for mental and emotional fatigue is harder to come by. Sometimes heartaches and troubles bear so heavily upon the soul that finding rest seems a distant reality. Not even a good vacation can help. It seems that a cloud of despair is always there. Where can a person go to find rest?

The Bible does offer an answer. We find the solution in Matthew 11:28 where Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest". I have come to realize that even though our faith is strong, and we ask Jesus to make our troubles go away, we probably will continue to have those problems, and they may even get worse. We live in a fallen world and because of that we will always have difficulties. I do know that God will give us strength to endure the rough times. All of us have watched as our parents or grandparents aged and in some cases struggled with pain until they died. As Christians we believe that death ushered in that eternal rest that they had prayed for and longed for.

Today you may be extremely weary and exhausted in the depths of your soul. I hope you can find peace in the message of Jesus. "Come to me. I know you are tired and weary. Hang in there because I am going to give you rest. You can endure this short time on earth. Eternal rest is waiting for you. Just come, come to me."