It’s the rest of the week. What would you like to rest from right now?
Sometimes, we aren’t sure what is keeping us from letting go and resting—all we know is that we are tired.
Or, maybe we have an inkling of what is nagging at our soul, but attending to that thing feels so uncomfortable that we automatically redirect our attention to something else, or someone else—because judging someone else and trying to correct their issues can feel like rest—a respite from the judgement we feel ourselves.
The problem is, of course, that this does not help us—or our relationships. Which is why Jesus, in his seminal “Sermon on the Mount”, said:
“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.
Matthew 7:3-5 NLT
And here is our invitation to rest.
There is the obvious rest that comes from letting go of the responsibility of changing someone else, but there a wonderful opportunity for discovering what is causing unrest.
We are going to notice what someone else is doing and want to correct them (I’ll let you supply the list here—one of my favorite items has to do with phone usage). Noticing how that thing bothers us, can bring us back to ourselves—and an awareness of what causes our own unrest.
Thankfully, God is not bothered like the rest of us. He knows us. He’s not judging us, but inviting us to be real, to just come, and rest.
(It turns out that this is a great starting place for change).
May your rest be sweet,
Alicia