Rest ( a poem)
Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 8:51AM I longed for rest. I did not know, that it would deep inside me grow.
I set my quest to be set free from disappointment, friction, loss. Establish a place in spite of cost. To climb the ladder from which I see, the world below, away from me. Then I would have the peace and rest, my life controlled, I’d passed the test.
I climbed those rungs throughout my life. Spent years defining what’s worth the fight. Have home and family, job and friends. But rest alluded still within.
How does one find what we were taught; that higher road past worries fraught?
"Take up your cross, men will oppose. They hated Him, they’re still His foes." So life dished out what life does best. The persecution would be my test.
"Just stand up tall, endure the fight. Our God will bring you through the night. Just live by faith and not by sight. You’ll find that rest when you know you’re right."
But rest still wanders from my soul. What is this faith? What makes it real, if all I’ve done still makes me feel the emptiness of unsettled soul?
Just give me rest and let me have the peace that passes all we know. Just fill me up and let me drink. Let faith produce this missing link.
But still his words remain the same. "I’ve given all you need to gain. If you want rest within your soul, you come, you learn, you die to all you’ve strived to gain without avail."
"This rest you want is not a tale. It’s not a high and lofty peak. It’s not maturity we seek. It can’t be given for it is learned. Come unto me and so discern that I am meek and lowly too. If you want rest, then you must do."
For in your humbleness of heart, no one can take or break apart what has already been laid down. The failed ambition, the broken soul, the trials and woundings and lonely parts were the courses taught in school for those who long to know a peace-filled heart.
I searched through life for peace and rest. I chaffed at setbacks and small mistakes. I thought they stood between me and peace. To only learn they teach release. If I want rest within my soul, I come to him who’s in control. I do not wait for rest to come. I watch and learn what’s in the Son. He did not speak of what rest is, but said to learn from what he lived.
The rest we seek is not from gain, is not measured in wealth and fame. It does not need our hand-picked friends nor life without the trials.
It simply is my life that’s marked by lowliness and mild. The journey with Christ that reinforced that I am still his child.
David Collins July 15, 2010
Reader Comments (2)
How come it is that we fall back, that we stand, our own
Or think we can do it all alone
How come we try to take control, to orchestrate a certain road
Doesn't fill an "unsettled soul"
"The rest we seek is not from gain", its not my plan, or my success
By my heart, I guess . . .
To make it real, I quickly go, "what must I do
I can do that, too"
Just release. Give it away - ambition, solution - I am not the one.
"Now watch and learn from the Son"
And so I move, ahead in faith and hope
Pray and do, pray and go
In light of our recent phone conversation Randy, that is a courageous response. It is not a clearly defined path between wanting to have clearly defined outcomes and placing greater value on the process itself. I believe we were made for that dance of faith and works. Thanks for the comment.