Both in my own life, and in my ministry life I’ve been working through a lot of information and teaching on Sabbath and rest. I am a better experiential learner, which makes this picture God gave me today all the sweeter!
If this is not your first time reading my ponderings you likely know that I adore all my nieces and nephews and delight in any time I can spend with them. One of the knacks I tend to have with the little ones is being able to put them to sleep. I love to just snuggle them securely and sing softly in their ear. It’s not too long and they are asleep.
I had the privilege of doing that several times this weekend with baby V. One of the nap times though she just was not settling down and none of my usual tricks worked! I know she loves to have a cell phone in her hand and particularly enjoys seeing videos of herself or her cousins. So I pulled out the phone and held it out for her to see the other baby V (yes we have two babies born 3 months apart both with names that begin with V).
It wasn’t long before the baby V in my arms took the phone from me and just clutched it to her chest and face. As she did that she fell asleep, but was still somewhat restless. All the while though her grip on the phone remained tight. After about 10 minutes like that I could feel her body relax more and fall into a deeper, sounder sleep. As that happened her grip on the phone relaxed and it fell away.
Almost immediately I thought – wow, what a perfect picture of me and God. In one sense all baby V needed was to rest in my arms and she would be safe and secure. But she insisted on gripping onto that phone.
God woos me and invites me to rest in his arms. He even tells me in Psalm 42:8 “By day the Lord directs His love, at night His song is with me.” Like baby V, I could be in that deep soul satisfying rest sooner if I would let go of the “stuff” like worries, concerns, schedules, relationships, you name it that I try so hard to cling to while still saying, yes God I want to rest in You!
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