Artifical Rest and the Peace of Christ

I am tired. I mean I am really tired, and I am sleepy too. Ironically I am tired after I tried to get some help for sleep. You see last night I had a sleep study. It was quite an experience. After an introductory video, I was take to a room that looked a lot like a normal bedroom. I waited until the technician hooked me up to what seemed like a thousand electronic leads. Plastered across my head and face were little to help monitor my sleep. When all this was finished, I was supposed to go to sleep.

I tried. I really did. But it took forever to go to sleep. Besides the unnatural feel of the wires I was out of my element. The place was strange compared to my home. It was comfortable, but it was not the comfort of home. In addition, I saw a little light facing me. It was a camera. Now I was not only hooked up to a bunch of wires in a strange place, but I also had the extra pressure that comes when sleep becomes a performance. In the end I slept, but I did not feel like a slept. So today I am tired.

Something similar often happens in our souls. We found ourselves in a world of evaluation. People judge; people watch; people talk. All of this conspires to rob us of rest. In response we often live the life of a performer. We forget authenticity and play for the camera. All the while peace is gone while we put on the show.

The good news is that Jesus offers us a different path--a path soul-rest. He calls us to come to Him when we labor and become heavy laden and promises rest. He removes the yoke of critical eyes and replaces it with a yoke of joyful submission. He relieves us of the rest of playing for the crowed by shrinking the audience to one. And that audience of one is please with us because we are covered in the performance of His perfect Son. Now we do not have to play the part. We simply trust in the part he played for us. And in the end we find rest for our souls (see Matt. 11:28ff.).

Today I am tired, but today I feel at peace. My body wants sleep, but my soul has found rest. I am sleepy but happy. Praise God that artificial rest can be replaced by the peace of Christ.