Redefining Rest – Ben

I assume you’ve read both Ron and Stephen’s post. Weren’t they great? Yes. Yes they were. But there's a problem. When my comrades do such a thorough job of covering a topic, anyone unlucky enough to follow is left with an impossible task. What am I supposed to write about now? I have to write something, or Stephen will lecture me about how Mark Twain's Pudd’nhead Wilson encapsulates the sociopolitical climate of late 1800’s Americana and why it’s my patriotic duty to finally finish it even though it’s an absolute bore to read. I perish at the thought of Sapp droning on until, with my will broken to pieces, I submit.

So, rather than wax philosophical, and rather than earn a talkin’-to, I’m going to be painfully basic. Simply put, turn off the phone or tv. Get alone and do nothing. Like, at all. Do absolutely nothing for at least 10 minutes, but preferably 30. 

Now, in a world of binging sitcoms on Netflix and social media at our fingertips, rest—the activity of inactivity—can feel like a crime. We have all the entertainment we could ever want; why would we ever purposely do nothing? Because EVERYONE needs a reset. In the history of our species, no one has been as inundated with some form of mental stimulus as we are. In fact, we’ve purposely strapped a device to our hands that can manipulate our emotions at will! Wanna be happy? Google babies laughing. Wanna be sad? Go on Instagram to see how your friends are always, all the time, constantly having a better time than you. Wanna be angry? Turn on the news. Endless tailor-made entertainment is a click away, but it comes with a price: our rest.  In less than a second, we can find four hundred and twenty-one blogs about how to lose weight, yet rest alludes us. Even before we go to bed, how many of us browse the feeds, ensuring our sleep is fitful and restless?

Turn off, dear reader. Turn off the tv. Turn off the phone. Turn off. Close the laptop. Don’t read a book. Don’t talk with anyone. Don’t exercise. Just…be…still. Give yourself enough time to get bored.

When Elijah was overcome with the world, God spoke to him, not in a boisterous wind, a cracking earthquake, or a raging fire but in a gentle whisper (1 Ki. 19:1-13).  God is still trying to speak to us today, but we’re too distracted by the dumpster fire on social media. He’s still trying to give us counsel, but we’re too enamored with some earth-shattering news. He’s still trying to give us rest from our worries, sorrows, and despair, but we’re far too easily swept up in the hustle and bustle of our 200MPH lives. In trying to fill our lives with endless activity, we’ve forgotten how to rest. 

So, stop. Listen. God is most clearly heard when we’ve put our lives on silent.