Everlasting Rest

As I take to my knees to write what is in my heart, I desire to understand what I am giving up for. 
This sacrifice of my life, this pain, this letting go, must be something I do for a great reward.

The joy set before him, led Jesus to die. The cross where He suffered is now where I died.

Long ago, I gave up the life I once had, to take from Him what He died to give.

Now, in fear that by following in to things I do not know – that I may never understand,

I am forced to once again trust Him with my life and reach out with empty hands.

The good that I had, I left all behind. Now with nothing, O Lord, I come.

Give, give me all that I desire. I desire more of You. I desire only You.

My one great reward and my one great treasure is to know You, to hear Your voice.

Nothing inside me understands this call. It seems like I have given up the world.

Sometimes I wonder if I will look back one day and wonder what fantasy it was,

That drives me to give everything away. Abandoning the life I could have, every day.

Like the ancient ones of faith, I desire a kingdom that is not of clay,

But I don’t know if, like them, I can spend my entire life waiting for someday.

The pressures around me to conform to the attitudes and lifestyles of normality,

Remind me at once of the gravity of my situation, the futility of life, the morality of choice…

And, by the grace of God, the absolute hopelessness of my situation apart from Christ.

If I were not first drawn into the desire to have what is best, I could not enter rest.

But the rest eludes me in the struggle of war. To keep the faith is tough.

When life is easy, I get careless. When it is hard, I am tempted to let go.

But one thing keeps me holding on, pressing in. I have found a treasure in a field,

An unshakeable kingdom, a promise that is sure, and a fortune that will not be taken away.

In order to buy, I must give up all that I possess. Including my life. Nothing less.

This payment not to buy, but rather be given. The reward is priceless - sacred by blood.

For me this treasure is free, but I cannot with hands that are full of pleasure

And a heart that is full of pride, find room for a vision that could overflow my life.

So giving up, emptying out, losing what most desire to gain, I complete the suffering, know joy.

I buy with a great cost what is already mine to possess: Salvation through Jesus Christ. 
Everlasting Rest.

The Sleeping Superhero

He had been, he thought back to the early days, like the unknown superhero who unable to find his destiny among that of those he did not identify with waited endlessly for an unknown opportunity to present itself. For what, he wondered, had his imagination pulled his heart away from the world of living into the world of fantasy? Was this invisible life really worth the sacrifice of visible? Could the pleasure derived from the days and nights spent in hours of sleep between short periods of waking dreams actually be more satisfying than the other possibility? 

In sleep only did he realize the potential locked away in his soul, yet, something inside longed for a chance to experience the feeling of victory when the sun ruled the sky. Hopelessly, he waited for the milky white of the moon to splash a pathway of light back to the world where he lived.

Perfect Rest

What a beautiful reality, where my responsibility becomes futility;

Where trying more is trying less and letting go is being blessed;

Where striving toward the perfect goal, the grander cause, not duty but delight. 

Where knowing love is all my life. My perfect rest, your perfect might.

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Laughter is the best way to express perfect rest. 

I have wanted to reach this point my whole life. All the books, all the stories, the dreams, and the moments of imagining what life could be have coalesced into a beautiful song called life. This life is no longer my own, but Christ who lives through me. My struggle to reach this place is not over, but my fight has been won. This present reality is but a glimpse of my future. It is from this place of perfect content that God will work through my life. It is not through my effort and talents, but through my rest and surrender that I will enter into the great things that God has prepared for me.

This rest does not refer to sleep or sloth, but to trust. It is the posture of my heart. As I seek to know the One who gives me life, I will discover Him through my actions, interactions and reflections. If I seek the actions, interactions and reflections that could reveal Him, I will be disappointed in my search. By seeking that which is good, I find only a reflection of that which is best. By seeking that which is best, I find that what is good makes that which is best even more beautiful. Thus, the posture of rest is one that seeks only what is best. It does not pursue the multitude of worthy causes that present themselves to me. However, in pursuit of the One who is worth everything, I will find myself undertaking many of the worthy causes.

1 Corinthians 14:1 demonstrates this subtle difference in a challenge to “Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts.” Though the demonstrations of love are desired, they are worth nothing apart from the pursuit of love. 1 Corinthians chapter 13 precedes this short phrase with the warning that actions without love are worthless. Thus, the good gifts are desired, but only one thing is pursued: LOVE!

To pursue love as a character, thought, action, or emotion would be a mistaken application of this passage. For love does not exist apart from God. 1 John 4:7-8 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love.”

In conclusion, then, my pursuit of God - of knowing God, and walking with Him in a restored relationship - is the source of my love, which gives value to the demonstration of love. Within this framework, everything that I do receives its value from the way in which it reflects the nature of God, expands my enjoyment of who He is, and demonstrates His love to the world. I rest. I enjoy. He works through me. 

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