Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
How to Find Genuine Rest in Stormy Times

How to Find Genuine Rest in Stormy Times

Last updated on: September 13, 2017 at 10:12 am by John Mark N. Reynolds

How to Find Genuine Rest in Stormy Times 2017-09-13T10:12:25-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Floods. Hurricanes. Fires. If we are depending on externals, then these are stressful times. The good news is that it is possible to have compassion for others in bad times while keeping our peace, even enjoying rest, if only we were saints. We are not saints, of course, and sometimes that quick inner humility turns into an excuse not to become better than we are.

We might never enter the perfect rest about which great sages speak, but we can lower our stress, worry less, and find greater rest. How?

Fo photo-1455133031464-31897e50faaa_opt rget a three day weekend, we need a perpetual weekend. We need it inside where hurricanes do not happen, where narcissistic politicians or bosses cannot shout, and wealth is not determined by bank accounts. This inner place where we hear the voice of God, the reason within our reason, is untouchable. The seat of our consciousness cannot be explained away by science, measured, or quantified. God is, the great I Am, and we can be, because He is.

Rest is Prepared for the People of God

There is a place where refuge can be found in storms, not just a perpetual weekend, but endless Sunday with no Monday coming.* That’s splendid, but it requires a hard bit of work for an American. We have to ignore the messages of thousands of hours of commercials and know that stuff cannot make us happy, money is not sweet, and even our relationships with each other are dangerous to our happiness.

We can (and should) enjoy stuff, making money can be helpful, and relationships with other people can be jolly and beautiful, but only if they are not providing what they cannot give. They are too fragile to be the ground of our happiness and so we will never (quite) rest out of fear if we put our full trust in them.

A very wise man, Maximos the Confessor, said this:

Saint Basil makes this clear in his commentary on the prophet Isaiah, when he says: “True Sabbaths are the rest prepared for the people of God [see Hebrews 4:9], and God can bear them [see Isaiah 1:13] because they are true. These Sabbaths of rest are attained by the person in whom the world has been crucified [see Galatians 6:14], for he has moved away from earthly things, and has arrived at his own place of spiritual rest. Whoever finds himself in such a place will never be moved from it, for it is his own, and characterized by tranquility and imperturbability.”* God is thus the “place” for all those deemed worthy of such blessedness, just as it is written: Be Thou to me a protecting God, and a strong place to save me [Psalm 70:3].**

What this Means for You Today

We have immediate access to this place of blessedness (happiness). It never fills up, and nobody is turned away. However, we must crucify the world to find the key to that place and that sounds harsh. We are happy to find rest, but why such a harsh door? Why must we nail our desire for money, power, and fame to a cross? We must, because they are pretty good. We will enjoy them later, but to our foolish minds, they seem enough. The very goodness of these external pleasures, especially if we get some early, dull us, make us complacent.

We become like those who go to the grocery store for the storm after the media has announced the crisis. We want bread, but there is no bread. We have taken bread for granted. Instead, we should have prepared by getting bread that no storm could touch and living water immediately available to everyone without lines or price gouging.

We crucify the world and gain rest and then all these good things can be given to us because they will never be tricksy. What had been an idol, a substitute for real happiness, becomes an icon, an outer sign of an inner reality. We have peace and also enjoy the good things God has made. When troubles come, and they will come this side of death, then it is still well with our inner self. We rest in turmoil.

We aren’t going to get to this discipline of the mind tomorrow. We may not get to it until after death, but we can begin. Today I turn to the inner place, the secret place, by crucifying my desires and finding rest.

Lord Jesus Christ have mercy!

______________________________________

*Nothing is so good humans cannot mess it up. God protected the poor eternally by mandating a day of rest. Humans turned that into unpleasantness. Think of the “Sabbath” of Laura Ingalls Wilder when playing and merrymaking were forbidden. We should worship God on the day of rest, but we should also rest, play, and recreate.

**Translator’s Note: St Basil of Caesarea, Commentary on Isaiah, 1:30

On Difficulties in the Church Fathers, Vol. 1 (The Ambigua) p 99, Note p 481

Rachel Motte edited this essay and added the sub-headings.

Apologetics

Spiritual Reflections

Hurricane Harvey

Maximos the Confessor

Peace

Rest

Stress

Previous Post

September 7, 2017

How to Raise Christian Kids: Two Tips and One Error

Next Post

September 9, 2017 A Very Special Episode: "Blue Bloods" and Social Liberal Privilege

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Apologetics Art Culture Education On Books On Education Philosophy Politics Pop Culture Spiritual Reflections Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 July 2025 June 2025 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 June 2023 September 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How tall was Goliath according to the Bible?

Select your answer to see how you score.

About 8 feet About 9 feet 9 inches About 6 feet 5 inches About 10 feet 5 inches

Books by This Author John Mark Reynolds

See All Titles »