So my mind has been stuck on this verse and has really resonated my soul these last few days.
Ecclesiastes 2:11 “Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
How often we spend so much time and effort putting work first, procrastinating on recovery, meditating and self-care. I read something interesting today in one of my devotionals I would like to share with you for those of you searching for the meaning and purpose of your life.
When God said that rest is found in him, he means that rest “IS FOUND IN HIM”. A Pastor once talked about the difference between amusement and rest and he said, “we tend to do one better than the other and the one we do well is not rest”.
Our souls require rhythm too. How often we forget our soul. Most of us however are unaware of the spiritual rhythms that are crucial to our health and wellness. Since our lives are increasingly disconnected from the rhythms of Gods word, we often miss his whisper, his heartbeat to our spirit that is meant to sustain us.
When God says to us, “come to me and I will give you rest”… we do not respond.
God tries again, “lay your burdens down” and walk with me and your walk will be burden free, again we do not respond.
God says I want you to be fascinated not with trinkets but with me and yet we still don’t respond.
We glance skyward to listen to the answer and say huh? God, was that you? What’s linger?
But before he has a chance to reply, we hear a subtle ring from our phone alerting us to a new text message or a new email. Then we can’t help to move our thumb across our phone or keyboard.
Score one more for the enemy of our soul.
Ouch. Wow! I’m equally as guilty trying to figure out this thing called life. Our past has always been a place of mental and emotional escape for those of us stressed out from our present and our future. However, I learned today that it is not wise to ask such questions like “why were the old days better than today”. It’s like living in the rear view mirror. No forward momentum, no learning from mistakes, just living in what binds us to our misery.
I ask those of you reading this blog, to make a decision to move forward. Take the past and thank it for its lessons and then reach for the promise of God. He gives rest to the weary but we need to present in order to receive the gift of his presence. Anxiety, Depression and Addiction are mere words. But Gods promise of rest is what takes our chasing of the wind to something that truly matters. That my friend is rest for our souls.
A point to ponder on my friends…