Lie Down and Rest

There is that line in the 23^rd Psalm, "He makes me lie down..."

I sent my son to the grocery store the other day. Sending my son to the grocery store used to be quite an adventure. You never knew what he would end up buying. You never knew how long it would take him to get there and back even if it was only five minutes away. You know there are a lot of ways one can go to the grocery store.

So Noah comes into the house after a short while and says, "Dad, come see if you can turn off your car." Now the thought of a car not being able to be turned off had never crossed my mind. The thought of my car not turning off sent fear throughout my whole body as I have zero mechanical skills. In fact, I have negative numbers when it comes to mechanical skills. But sure enough, the car would not turn off. You could even take the key out and it would continue running. So what do I do now?

Well, my first thought was to get it to a place that when it did stop running it would not be in the way or in a line of danger for me or anyone else. The second thought (which became my first thought quickly) was I need to get this to a mechanic. So I drove the car that would not start to the shop.

Some of us have the same problem that my car had. We do not know how to stop. Maybe it is that we do not know when to stop. Maybe it is the fact that we have such low self-esteem that if we were to stop, we would be of less value to the world. Sometimes it is the emotions that will not let us stop. Whatever it is, our motor—our mind, spirit, or body will not turn off.

It is an exhausting way to live life. We martyr ourselves daily making sure that the world around us knows that we are doing this. We blame anything and everything for anything and everything. Usually we end up crashing or at least driving through the world around us wreaking havoc in every direction.

The Psalmist says that God says, "Lie Down!" Not only are we to lie down but we are to lie down beside the still waters. Obviously God does not have insight into our troubled life. Or does God really have more insight than what we want to admit.

A good mechanic takes the car that will not stop and knows how to immediately turn the car off, disconnect the battery so it will not run down. Then the mechanic puts a new part in the ignition that recognizes the power of the key. Did you hear that last part—recognizes the power of the key?

God is the key to our life and our restfulness. You can trust God with the world, even your crazy world, and rest.

I served a troubled church one time. It troubled me greatly as well. Each day I would begin the drive home carrying too many burdens in too many places. Finally on the way home at a four way stop not far from my house, I had had enough. I could go no more. I asked God to help me in a way I had never done before. God invited me to rest. I heard God say to me that every day on my way home, at the four way stop, I could unload the burdens of the day and leave them there. I could go home and rest. I could go home and just enjoy being with my family. So that became a ritual. Some days I had to let some cars go around me at the four way stop as I was not through unloading the burdens. But each morning on the way back to work, I could pick up the previous days concerns at the four way stop. They seemed lighter because I was rested.

Rest. It is necessary. Let the power of the key (God's presence) turn off the motor that will not stop.

Pray for me as I pray for you