Finding Rest in These Uncertain Times
美佳之窗 His Window 92（ Oct - Dec 2020 ）
Text by Mun Wei
How’s your 2020? As we edge towards the end of the year, in between the virus out break lockdowns, dalgona coffee, netflix binge and US presidential election, I am sure many are still baffled and trying to make sense of what a year this has been. The many resolutions and plans are thrown off guard by the global pandemic. We can all find our moments of either gratitude or petition to God in the midst of the chaos, whether it’s finally having enough time to spend with loved ones at home and still be able to make a living, or frantically adjusting to a new normal loaded with much uncertainties no government in this world could provide any conclusive solutions to date. Perhaps many have wished we could ‘take a break’ from 2020.
The MEC working adult life group has been blessed with a chance to go away together for a retreat in October before we were caught in yet another movement restriction order. As we gathered to count our blessings and seek God prayerfully looking into the future, I am inspired to write this piece on finding rest.
The Need
Christians are quite accustomed to the culture of reflection. We are taught to stop and reflect from time to time upon our words and actions before the Lord, it is more than trying to make sure we do not get on God’s ‘naughty list’, but rather realizing the triggers by addressing harmful behaviours and nipping it in the bud. In recent years, there are rising movements that calls for mental health awareness across the globe, even more so during this lock down period. People are getting more aware of the importance to pause and reflect before spiraling down a gloomy path.
Our minds are constantly jostling with thoughts, busy sorting out our daily life, processing every experience and emotional journey. We could become oblivion to the need for a proper rest, and force our tired souls out and about again. However, the failure to recognize our need to have a soul satisfying rest is the reason we don’t recognize our need for a Saviour, who is the Provider.
Rest is not merely an option to cope with life, it is a command from God (Exodus 23:12) who also lead in example by setting aside a full day’s rest from His work. And when we still fail to recognize the need for it, Jesus extends countless invitations to remind us that weneed to make an effort and come away to find rest in Him. We will find rest for our souls from our heavy labor, our thirsty souls will besatisfied. (Matthew 11:28-30, John 4:13-14) .
The Search
The frenetic pursuit of technological advancement and keeping up with a contemporary lifestyle has greatly influenced our choices in stress management and what we think rest is. Companies have set up counseling departments to care for their overworked employees, businesses ride on this wave to provide ‘self-care packages’ like spa treatments, travel adventures, food therapy......etc. Often times, to numb the stress or negative emotions, people rather find cheap instant fixes and they are commonly seen mindlessly scrolling on electronic devices. So ironically the convenience we benefit from technology today might not ideally be the answer to reduce stress.
We might get a sense of relief in various activities, but we are just escaping from one distraction to the other in a vicious cycle. At the end of the day, we carry a whole lot of burden and anxiety, getting confused as to what exactly we need a rest from. No one likes to function under stress, and we tend to disregard this unpleasant feeling as a sign of weakness and push ourselves to keep going.
When we lack a true definition of purposeful rest, we search in wrong places for unsustainable alternatives, and less than satisfying result. We have become a growingly impatient society, being conditioned in a lifestyle that provides solutions with just a few tap of the finger, therefore falling into the arrogance of self providence. In Hebrews 4:10-11says: ‘for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.’ God can remove our hardened hearts and out of tune deaf ears, only when we humble ourselves to recognize the need, will we begin to search in the right place for the right answer.
The Assurance
Unrest in human beings begins when we are presented with comparisons. The damage is done when our heart of contentment is out of balance comparing what we want versus what we truly need, then we start to pile on extra stress to strife for a better living. It started in the garden of Eden where everything was provided for, but Eve fell for the temptation that maybe more could be attained from tasting that forbidden fruit. This is still relevant to us today, causing many of our prayers to be filled with petitions for God to add on to our lives, rather than patiently seeking fellowship with Him and wait on Him.
Our merciful God knew, and before even promising providence of any specific necessity in life, He knew the only thing we needed first and foremost is a Saviour. The One in whom we are redeemed and find all the assurance that frees us from the bondages living in this world. The hope is solely in Him, before hoping for what could better our living.As we learn to find rest in Him and not what this world could give, He continues the good work in reassuring our identity and realigning our purpose, working in ways that surpasses all understanding.
When we occupy under this assurance and abundance, we find the renewed strength to face our daily hustle, and even freed up space to love beyond ourselves, something we always choose to put off. When we focus so much on caring for ourselves, we forget that in Christ, we could be a rest for another soul.
I would like to share this prayer of Saint Francis below as an encouragement to all brothers and sisters in Christ:
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love.
Where there is offense, let me bring pardon.
Where there is discord, let me bring union. Where there is error, let me bring truth.
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.
Where there is despair, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, let me bring Your light.
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.
O Master, let me not seek as much to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love, for it is in giving that one receives, it is in self-forgetting that one finds, it is in pardoning that one is pardoned, it is in dying that one is raised to eternal life.
Ending on this note that we are once again proved and reminded of our human frailty with many unprecedented events in 2020, though nothing is certain in this world, but nothing comes as a surprise to God either. We have all the assurance we need to live. Know your need, know your pursuit, and find rest in Him.