Rest In Christ
The concept of rest has been on my heart lately.
I have been struggling to find genuine rest and peace. My soul often feels overwhelmed. My mind is burnt out.
Even in my prayer, I find it difficult to truly relax. I have a checklist of different things I need to say to God. I fill my time in prayer with noise. Time and again, I fail to silently sit with Jesus.
This past weekend, I attended a retreat for the youth evangelization team in my diocese. We had the opportunity to have a guided holy hour, where we were encouraged to reflect on our spiritual lives. Although my mind typically wanders during adoration, I found that my thoughts were relatively stilled. For the first time in a while, I merely sat at the feet of Jesus, marinating in His love.
Afterward, we were invited to share what Jesus had revealed to us. A wise friend of mine told us that she felt drawn to the word “rest,” and the the Lord communicated the idea that we cannot successfully serve Him if we do not take the time to rest in Him. Her words really resonated with me.
We cannot continue to grow and prosper if we are constantly flooding our minds with noise, even if that noise is holy. Our souls need rest. And, even though Christ invites us to take repose in Him, we often fail to do so. We allow our souls to become heavy and burdened, but we fail to allow Christ to restore our peace.
Even in our prayer lives, we need to still our hearts. Rather than constantly talking to God, we need to take the time to rest in the presence of His love. By taking the time to sit, breathe, and relax with Him, we are filled with His grace, zeal, and wisdom.
My friend, in order to become true disciples of Christ, we must soak in His loving qualities. We must allow His peace to consume us. We must slow down and allow Him to take away our exhaustion. So, attend a weekly holy hour, start your day with a few minutes of meditation, don’t play music on your way to work—do whatever you can to cultivate rest and to allow the Lord to rejuvenate your weary soul.