Kristin Parks – Be at Rest

Growing up I lived in a small Midwestern town which greeted visitors with a population sign boasting “home of 5,200 friendly people and 1 ol’ sorehead.” If you drove through my town you would likely say I grew up in the “country.” But you’d be wrong. I most certainly did not grow up in the country; I grew up in town--we went to the country. The place where gravel roads are a way of life, the stars shine brighter at night, and abundant farmland rolls on for miles and miles.

One Sunday afternoon, my parents, sister, and I took one of our usual trips to the country with three-wheelers in tow. (Yes, this was before they were banned in 1988.) This was a common occurrence for my family but on this particular day there was an added element of excitement. My parents were finally going to let my sister ride the three-wheeler by herself. Solo. All alone. Being the younger of us, I was not jealous in the least but was excited for my sister to embark on this journey knowing my day would come.

We arrived at my uncle’s farm and unloaded the three-wheelers preparing for my sister’s maiden voyage. There were fields as far as you could see on the property with the exception of two houses and a barn. At this point, I don’t remember a lot as the excitement was building but I’m sure my dad instructed my sister about the basics of operating the machine. What I do remember is my sister taking off with the throttle wide open. In theory, this would not have been a serious problem since we were in the wide open spaces. However, the situation quickly escalated as my sister was heading straight for one of the brick houses.

With my parents yelling “let off the gas” and “turn” frantically, my sister continued to chart her course full speed ahead—straight for the house. To her credit, she did somehow manage to hit the house at an angle, but her head took most of the brunt. Running full throttle provided a few seconds of thrills but abruptly ended with many moments of pain.

What about you? Are you running full throttle right now? Do life’s demands have you running with the gas wide open? Here’s a newsflash particularly for all of us superwoman types: we are finite creatures. Finite by definition means we have limits or bounds. We all have them. Yes, even you.

If we run full throttle long enough, we’ll eventually hit the wall. No, those walls won’t be made of brick, but the impact will be felt just the same. The consequences of bad decisions or poor judgement. Being sidelined with fatigue or sickness. Losing your passion or experiencing burnout. Causing damage to relationships, especially those closest to you.

How do we let off the gas and slow down our lives to a more manageable pace? Psalm 116:7-8 says: “Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. For you, Lord, have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.” When we stop and remember the goodness of God and what He’s done for us, we can return to rest in our souls. Rest doesn’t mean getting more sleep or even slowing our pace (although those may be necessary steps to take) but rather turning to God and restoring our confidence in his providence.

When we’re in the middle of chaos. Return to your rest. When our schedules are full. Return to your rest. When the needs around us are great. Return to your rest. When life is hard. Return to your rest. When a pandemic has our lives turned upside down. Return to your rest.

The answer isn’t to try harder, work faster, think smarter, or stay up later. Those answers are self-focused. Returning to our rest restores our trust in God’s goodness and provision for our lives. The psalmist reminds us that God is our salvation, our healer, our comforter, and our direction.

Earlier in the psalms we find a similar reminder about slowing down and turning our eyes to Him. Psalm 46:10 says “Be still and know that I am God.” Other translations say “stop fighting” or “cease striving”. These words have often been a respite to my weary soul and brought newfound freedom when life gets out of control. Be still. Stop fighting. Cease striving.

The first few seconds of my sister’s fast and furious ride were undoubtedly filled with great excitement but quickly came to a crashing halt. The same fate awaits each of us if we continue running wide open, but the consequences could be direr. If just for today, would you give yourself permission to stop running full-throttle and allow your soul to return to your rest?

Note: No sisters were permanently harmed in the writing of this blog post. After the colorful bump, nagging headache, and crocodile tears subsided there was plenty of laughter around the situation which continues even today.

Kristin Parks