Come To Me.

This month was difficult and it was hard to find the time to catch a breath. One thing happens, and before you can fully process it, something else needs your attention. A concern arises. A decision has to be made. Another problem remains unresolved. After a while, you begin to feel it, not only in your thoughts, but in your body. Your shoulders tighten. Your mind keeps running. You are tired, but you cannot seem to settle down.

It has not been one major crisis. It has simply been one thing after another. Before one concern is resolved, something else seems to appear. I found myself wanting everything to stop for a moment. I wanted a quiet place where I did not have to think about what needed to be fixed, answered, handled, or decided. I just wanted somewhere to rest. But then I began thinking: Where do I rest when life itself will not settle down?

Sometimes circumstances do not change quickly. The issue may still be unresolved. The answer may still not have come. Tomorrow may bring something else I did not expect. If I wait for everything around me to become peaceful before I experience peace, I may be waiting a long time.

Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Two words stand out to me: Come to Me. Jesus understood that we would sometimes become heavy laden, not only physically tired, but mentally and emotionally burdened. 

His invitation was not to keep pushing until we had nothing left. He simply said, Come. Come before everything is resolved. Come while you still have questions. Come when your mind will not slow down. Maybe that is where rest begins.

I am learning that constantly thinking about a problem does not always bring me closer to solving it. Sometimes I need to step away, breathe, pray, take a walk, sit quietly, or simply give my mind permission to stop working on everything for a little while. That is not ignoring responsibility. It is recognizing that I was never meant to carry everything continuously.

Psalm 62:1 says, “Truly my soul silently waits for God.” David did not say everything around him became quiet. His soul became quiet before God. There is a difference. I cannot always quiet my surroundings, but I can bring my restless heart into God’s presence. I can say: Lord, I have done what I can. I have prayed. I have carried this as far as I know how. Now I am placing it in Your hands. And then I can rest. Not because everything is finished, but because God is still faithful.

Peace is not always God settling everything around me. Sometimes peace is finding a place to settle myself in Him. Perhaps the peace place I have been searching for is not a quiet room, a perfect day, or a life without problems. My peace place is simply the presence of God. A place where my mind can slow down, my body can breathe, and my soul can become still even when life is not.

Wellness Pause:

Take five quiet minutes today. Put down the phone. Relax your shoulders. Take a few slow breaths and ask: What am I carrying that I need to place in God’s hands? You do not have to solve it right now. Just breathe. Pray. Be still.

You do not have to have everything settled in order to be settled. Sometimes wellness begins by giving your mind, body, and spirit permission to rest in the presence of God.

Pearl's Prayer:

Lord, when life comes faster than I can process it, teach me to pause, release, and rest. Quiet my thoughts and help me place what I cannot control into Your hands. When life will not settle down around me, help me settle myself in Your presence. Amen.

I am The Vessel, God Is The Grace