Rest - Letting Go

     There are so many mental pictures that come to mind as I think of rest, or the lack of it; floating down a river in a raft, a passenger in a car, a team of oxen. . . Ok I'll explain . . .

     The person on a raft is at rest as they allow the river to carry them where ever it chooses. They don't know what's around the bend, where they will end up, what sights are ahead or what dangers. They are totally at the mercy of the river. The river to me represents God and being lead by His Spirit. The trouble starts when we try to take things in our own hands, try to change the direction the River is taking us. Hanging on to stuff, or pulling stuff onto the raft, that we want to cling to, quickly sends things helter kelter, off balance, and in a spin. The best way to get the most out of the journey, is resting in the center of that raft, letting everything else go, until it's only us and the River. The beauty around suddenly becomes something to enjoy, to absorb, as we joy in the center of God's will. What once felt scary and out of our control, becomes an adventure with God, a mixture of rest and excited anticipation of what God has around the next corner!

     The car scenario is a similar picture. We're the passengers and Jesus is the driver. He never gives us much information on where we are going. He sometimes takes us to crazy places, that we would never go if we were driving. I mean seriously, we could plan this trip better, right? Where He's going doesn't always make sense. Sometimes it's scary! Another time He takes us into some desert land, bouncing over rough terrain. This does not feel like it should be part of our journey and we conclude He's not taking us the right way. That's when it's easy to try to help out a little. You know, grab the wheel, see if we can steer this thing better then the Driver. But that's when the real problems start. Grabbing the wheel is never a good idea! We don't have the GPS, we don't know where our personal journey is suppose to be going. Really, we can't proceed in our journey, and get the best mileage out of our trip, until we take our hands off the wheels, and hang on for the ride! We're in for an adventure!

     I never really connected much with the comment Jesus made about His yoke being easy and His burden light, until I was in Africa and got to see an example of it first hand. It was the neighbor man, working with his yoke of oxen to plow a field. Obviously one ox was a wild one and the other had done this before. The neighbor had put a make shift yoke over both of their heads, tying them together. The only thing was, the wild one didn't want to go where the seasoned one went. This made for a problem as one ox tried to go one way and the other one tried to go another way. It didn't make the yoke look very easy or light, right then. And my brain was going “ching ching” . . . Jesus' yoke IS easy as long as I'm going where He's going. Pulling along side of Jesus, He helps carry my part of the yoke, and makes it very easy. The problem begins when I have something else in mind, want to go another way separate from where He's going; it's not so easy and light!

     So maybe the rest is actually surrender, letting go and embracing the journey He has me on! Whatever the best description is, it seems life becomes the most adventurous when He is most in control of my life!

Lessons From the Mutt

     A couple months ago a "visitor" showed up at our house.  This was not a typical visitor, and not one most people would feel warmly towards.  Her appearance was less then desirable to say the least.
     For one thing, she stank.  A pitiful show of hair, hung in clods to her skinny, bony body.  She walked with a limp and was OLD!!  . . . And lets just say she's mortified me more then once!!!!  For example . . .
     One bright day there was to be an extra special party at my house.  Friends from out of State were in the area, and it was party time!!  This was to be a girls tea party.  Guest were dressed in white skirts and cheery blouses, and a fine display set up under the big tree in the yard.  It was china and dainty tea cups, and old fashioned pitchers filled with fresh picked flowers.  The table was graced with lace, and delicious scones and delectables were to be served.

     I tied our "unwanted friend" with a rope, and conveniently tucked her away behind the house and out of sight of any seeing eye. . . or so I thought.  No longer had the guest begun to arrive, when who should come waltzing through the yard but . . . you guessed who!!  Talk about heights of modification!!!! 
     I frantically tried to get my sister to help lure her away.  "Get food!  Chase her off!  Do something!!!!"  The only success we made, was to have her move to a location farther away from us and settle herself down to relax.  But of course by now all my guest had come!  This SO was not suppose to be happening!
     I confess, I blamed it on my sisters!  "Oh this is more their dog.  She would have been sent to a pound by now but they felt sorry for her , , , she claimed us!"  (That story hasn't died yet!!) 
     Our dog friend (and my sisters) has taught me a lot!  This dog has proved to have so much character tucked under all that skinny unattractive body!  Who is the first to come running to the car as soon as we pull in the lane, but the scrawny dog, waving her nearly hairless tail, totally overjoyed to see us!  The mornings we would get up early to pick black berries, she'd wait for us to come out and sit at our feet to "talk" to us in her dog language of whimpers and yips, so excited to see us!
     I'm reminded of a song Gorden Mote wrote to his wife, that expresses it so well!!!  Gorden, who never got to see his wife's face, with his own eyes, writes these lyrics,  "If they could see you through my eyes, they'd know where the real beauty lies . . . deep inside your heart, who you really are, if they could see you through my eyes."
     I wonder how much better we could really see each other, if like Gorden, we couldn't rely on our eye sight, but could see only with the eyes of our hearts.  How easy to bypass and miss getting a glimpse of the tucked away treasure and character of someone's heart . . . just because . . . It doesn't pass specks, not very glamorous, ect ect.   May Jesus give me those eyes that see through the eyes of the heart!