What does your soul crave?

 

This afternoon, I felt the overwhelming need to take a walk while listening to instrumental worship music, letting my soul catch up with my body. As I walked the bins down the long drive and made my way very slowly back, I began to think about rest. And how badly I wanted it.

With dry season upon us, here in the Territory, the oppressive heat is gone and has been replaced with ever increasing cooler days, clear skies, epic sunsets, and a different beauty to the landscape.

I always find it’s the kind of weather that has me wanting to linger in its coolness at the end of a long day, climbing up on the roof to watch the sunset, or rising earlier to enjoy the colourful sunrise.

But along with the dry season, the workload increases. The tourists arrive in droves, the communities come into town and the stations are in full swing with their mustering, hay cutting, yard building etc and so the transport industry I work in becomes a series of overwhelmingly long days and hectic weeks.

It begins to get harder and harder to find time in the day to take time to rest. Just when one job is finished, another has to start.

When you fall into bed at night, you’re exhausted, physically, emotionally and mentally. You enjoy your much needed sleep, only to get up and do it all again the next day.

Maybe you’ve had days like this, or months or even years. Being caught up in a weary season right now, I am reminded of Isaiah 40. I love the comfort that the Word of God brings to a weary soul.

Isaiah 40:28-31

Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

It’s so clearly put. Haven’t you heard? Don’t you know? That God never tires. He is never weary. He never faints.

He knows that we grow weary. We tire. We faint. And because of this he reminds us that he gives power and strength.

This passage speaks of God’s inexhaustible strength and power. We have to remember who it is that gives us the ability to soldier on, through the weary and long days. It is only through God’s power that we are victorious. We are not able to make it through the weary seasons in our lives without the Lord’s help.

When we try and do things in our own strength, we just exhaust ourselves and wear out. We set ourselves up for failure.

Being weary is a physical sign that we are in need of refreshment, whether physically, mentally or spiritually.

We can’t always control the busy seasons in our lives, as things have to be done and time marches on swiftly, but what we can control is the choice to wait on the Lord and lean on him, seeking refreshment from him.

Tonight, as I finished my walk, I thought about what I could do to pass the time before I needed to go out again to pick up my husband, get him packed again to head off once more. I had so many things to choose from, and most of them not enjoyable.

A little voice in my head whispered, “Go ahead and watch a movie, or scroll social media, you deserve it, you’ve had a long day”.

But I knew, down deep inside, it wasn’t what my soul needed. That kind of comfort wouldn’t last. It wouldn’t satisfy.

What my soul craved was to hear from the Lord. To read words of comfort and encouragement found in the Word of God. (Psalm 42:1)

What I needed was soul food. I needed the water of God’s Word pouring into my heart and mind, soaking into the dry and parched places of my life.

I needed an updraft of air, lifting me up as an eagle in flight, causing me to rise, refreshing and renewing me.

God’s Word and his whispers to our hearts in times of difficulty and seasons of weariness can bring a refreshing wind to our wings, enabling us to rise above the circumstances we find ourselves in.

Okay, so God doesn’t always choose to remove us from the circumstance, he more often than not chooses to give us the strength to bear it instead of taking us out of it. He gives power to the faint and increases our strength.

What an amazing and awesome God to know exactly what we need!

When I find myself weary in body and mind, I reach for God’s promises. Before I began to write this tonight, I began to read over some old posts that I had written in times like this. I encouraged my heart with the Word of God and the remembrance of past victories and God’s enabling power.

As I sit here, I am still weary in body, but my soul is being refreshed. Yes, I still have so many things on my to do list and every day this week is full to the brim and overflowing. No, I don’t know how I’m going to fit it all in, but this I do know. God will be with me each step of the way, walking beside me, his presence always there, his strong arm upholding me, going before me and beside me.

And if I take the time to rest in him, not in what this world has to offer, but in him, taking time to sit in silence and let him speak, listening to his words of comfort and letting him order my days, obeying his voice and allowing him to bring peace to my soul, he will refresh, renew and replenish and he will give my body the energy it needs to do what he asks of me.

God’s Word tells us we can come boldly to him, seeking rest, seeking peace, seeking refreshment and seeking help.

Hebrews 4:16 - Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

We can rest in Him, knowing that He will uphold us and be with us through every weary day. Every trial. Walking beside us, lighting the path before us, guiding each faltering footstep. Carrying us when we are too weak to stand.

Take time to rest. You can’t afford not to.

We need rest in our lives. True rest. God centred rest.

True rest is found when we sit before the Lord and listen to Him.

Stop thinking about your to do lists, just for a moment. Sit before the Lord. Dwell on his holiness. Listen to his whispers to your heart. Ask for a heavenly perspective. Focus on his presence.

Yesterday is too heavy. Lay it down. Today is too difficult. Lay it down. Tomorrow is too unknown and fearful. Lay it down. Give it to the Lord and rest in him.

Come boldly to the throne of grace and let Him gather you in His arms and give you the help you need and let him bring his rest and his peace.

Matthew 11:28

 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.