The Key to Rest in Midst of Life’s Riot

@audreycfrank

We are desperate for rest.

It was this great need that drove me to plan a vacation with my husband and three children to a remote national park this summer. No technology, just sand and sea. We unplugged for eight days and tried not to go nuts as we rediscovered how to do much of nothing. Over that week the many bumps and bruises caused by blind busyness were healed and hearts were renewed. As the vacation drew to a close, only one thing remained to make the week complete for me.

It was the last morning, and I was determined to wake up and watch the sunrise.

Our rustic little cabin rose on stilts along the dunes, offering a view of the horizon right outside my window. I didn’t even need to leave my bed, lazy as I was on vacation, to witness the arrival of the sun peeking over the water.

As soon as my alarm went off, I sprang up and looked out the window at the horizon. The sky hung low, draped in heavy gray clouds. I have been tricked by sunrises before; I know to be patient. The orange orb often peeks over the dark line of night in an instant, surprising us even though we watch for it expectantly. So, I waited and watched. 

The sky grew lighter, but the sun did not appear. After twenty long minutes, it was clear that the sun had risen behind the clouds and would not entertain me with its colorful parade today. I was disappointed.

Falling into a shallow, fitful sleep, I dreamed I was highly distressed, tossing and turning. I shouted in dismay and frustration, “I can’t make the sun rise!” I heard the Lord instantly reply, “You rest. I will make the sun rise.”

You rest. I will make the sun rise.

I immediately awoke, His words ringing in my ears as surely as they are printed here. My heart slowed its frantic pace and calmed under the influence of His reminder.

Here, on my last morning before packing to go back to life’s race, my heavenly Father had one more item of crucial business to discuss with me: there are things I cannot control and only He can.

Rest while He does what only He can do. This is the key to rest in the midst of life’s riot.

 

If I take measure of all that’s on my to-do list, my concern list, how many items do I truly have control over? With what am I wrestling that is impossible for me?

Has my opinion of myself grown so large that I think I can control the rising of the sun?

How often do we strive and strain to do what was never in our authority to do? The sun knows who it obeys. It knows its Creator, and it has never failed in its obedience to Him.

The sun has never once, on the other hand, obeyed me.

Ridiculous illustration, yes. But we do presume an absurd amount of control in our lives and in the lives of others. We keep a white-knuckled grip on control we were never meant to have. We are not all-knowing, all-wise. We do not have the ability to see the future. We have never given our lives for another, measured her worth to the One who created her.

Are we fit to control so much?

For many, the month of August is a new beginning with new schools, new jobs, and new routines. During this season of change, I am choosing to rest, while I trust God to make the suns in my life rise. And for areas where I’m not sure of the difference, I am praying and trusting God will show me. I hope you can too.

Lord, I release to you those things I cannot control. Help me rest in you while I trust you to make the sun rise. Amen.