Psalm 23
English Standard Version (ESV)
Have you ever tried to convince a weary toddler to go to sleep? They will insist they are not tired, right up until the point where they collapse from fatigue. A year ago, Caleb and I were out late at a Boy Scout event and he told me over and over that he would be awake all the way home, but he was out cold by the time we made it to the freeway.
It's funny (and occasionally frustrating) when I watch my kids do this, but I do the same thing. I insist that I can push myself harder, that I can squeeze one more thing in, that I don't need rest. We push and push and push, despite our lives, our souls, crying out for rest. God makes us lie down -- sometimes, we end up with rest even when we didn't want it, because we need it. God leads us beside still waters, that our souls may calm down, that we may rest, that we may recognize that the world doesn't depend on us holding everything together.
Some years ago, I was reading a book about sleep. Someone was having a hard time determining why exactly the body needs to sleep, and the best reason he could come up with was because we get tired.
We need rest. God's sabbath rest is part of the creation story, and it's written into the Ten Commandments. Make some time to rest, that God may lead you to still waters.
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