Psalm 62:5-8
5 Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
6 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
7 My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
8 Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.
Finding rest can be difficult. When the little voices become not so little as their desire to
get out of bed (earlier than I would like) increases, it can be hard to have a few moments of quiet and peace. When the hours of working on things that couldn’t get accomplished in daylight run deep into the night, it’s hard to find rest. Physical rest is hard to obtain. Soul rest is hard to come by. Both are necessary, but when physical rest is not easily found (because of the season of life or whatever else), I believe soul rest can still take place. . . soul flourishing can still take place.
Psalm 62 seems to give us some hints into how this is possible. I need this reminder every day; that my rest can only be found in Him, that my hope is only found in Him. It’s not found in how well I can get my kids to obey, how I look on the outside, how in order our finances are, how much I can accomplish in a day, or in who wins the presidency or any other thing. My hope is found in God alone. If I hope in anything else, rest for my soul will not come. When we realize that God alone is our salvation and rock (v.6-7) then it will be much harder for moments of seeming instability throughout the day to cause me to be shaken. Because Jesus died, rose to life, broke the power of sin, and left the Holy Spirit to walk with us, we can go in His power, with His grace, filled with His peace; flourishing even when the physical rest is lacking.
So how does this look practically? Well, it looks like reading your bible with a child or two climbing around you sometimes (unless for once they actually sleep ’til you want them to!). It means spending time talking to the kids (or anyone else) about Jesus throughout the day and declaring our need for Him. Recently, I’ve been working a lot of hours by myself. Long days where it’s just me and my thoughts. I’ve found that using this time to pray and be in conversation with the Lord has been really refreshing. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says to pray without ceasing. It’s easier when it’s quiet and I’m just working by myself, but I want that continual prayer to run over into the hours that I’m surrounded by children and other people as well. . .to go about all hours of my day being in communion with Jesus. Why? Because He is my hope. He is my salvation. He is my rock. He is my refuge. He is the ONLY source of true rest. And I want that. I need that. More of Jesus. Together with his people. Everyday (and ALL day!).