The promise of Rest!

If you have followed my blog for any time at all, you already know how much nature,  particularly gardens, speak to me and remind me of spiritual principles.  I took this picture near the end of a long walk through the Botanic Gardens on one of my many excursions there last year and I remember thinking how welcoming a sight an empty bench is to a weary traveler!  A place to sit,

put any burdens you're carrying down and just relax and enjoy where you are and the company that may be with you. 

That's exactly how it feels for me when I look to Jesus when I am weary, discouraged, needing help, or experiencing fearfulness.

Whitney Houston performed a song, "I Look to You" that spoke to me in a spiritual way:

                                                                                                                     

As I lay me down,
Heaven hear me now.
I'm lost without a cause
After giving it my all.

Winter storms have come
And darkened my sun.
After all that I've been through
Who on earth can I turn to?

I look to you.
I look to you.
After all my strength is gone,
In you I can be strong
I look to you.
I look to you.
And when melodies are gone,
In you I hear a song.
I look to you.

About to lose my breathe,
There's no more fighting left,
Sinking to rise no more,
Searching for that open door.

And every road that I've taken
Lead to my regret.
And I don't know if I'm going to make it.
Nothing to do but lift my head

I look to you.
I look to you.
After all my strength is gone,

In you I can be strong
I look to you.
I look to you.
And when melodies are gone,
In you I hear a song.
I look to you.

My levees are broken
My walls have come
Tumbling down on me

The rain is falling.
Defeat is calling.
I need you to set me free.

Take me far away from the battle.
I need you.
Shine on me.

I think we have all been through things in life that would have us identify with parts of her song, but I love the chorus "I look to you..." because for me the person I look to when I am in need is my Lord Jesus.  He said  "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11;28) I have found more comfort in knowing He is my resting place in the battles of this life than you can imagine. When I left my military family in Germany at age  17 to travel to the United States to find a job and go to college, I found complete rest from the fears of being alone.  When I decided to leave Ohio and move to Chicago to attend Moody Bible Institute, I found rest in knowing I was obeying God's direction for my life. When I began dating my husband and was trying to determine if he was God's choice for me, I found the Lord to be my resting place as I prayed through that decision.  When I became a mom and had so many concerns about parenthood, I found rest in Christ from insecurities. When my mother died, and later my beloved Mother-in-Law, I had to look to Jesus because I badly needed rest from grief and pain. When my husband lost his job of 25 years, I had to look to Jesus for rest from anxiety about our  finances.  When our children were teenagers and we were unsure how to parent them through some of their struggles, we had to look to Jesus for rest from worry.  When we have faced various financial needs in our 33 years of marriage , we had to look to

Jesus to give us rest from unbelief and worry.so we could rely on Him guiding us through.  We have found His words to be true, and this garden picture above reminds me that He is my promise of rest from many things that He doesn't want me to bear alone.

The bench in this picture is empty. But imagine with me, Jesus sitting there just waiting for you to sit beside him and find comfort, rest, and help for all your troubles.  There's an old hymn that says, I must "tell it to Jesus", and I'm sure it was written by a person who found Jesus to be the perfect place of rest for their troubled soul.  Many have written hymns, poems, songs that

remind me of my faithful, loving Jesus who provides me with a place to go find rest.  I even think of an "oldie but a goldie" Simon and Garfunkle song, "Bridge over Troubled Water"  that spoke so much more to me as a believer in Christ. Parts of that song that speak to me of the rest we find in Jesus are:

                                           When you're weary, feeling small

                                           When tears are in your eyes, I'll dry them all.

                                           I'm on your side,  when times get rough

                                           And friends just can't be found.

                                           Like a bridge over troubled waters,

                                           I will lay me down.

                                           I'll take your part
                                          When darkness comes
                                          And pain is all around
                                          Like a bridge over troubled water
                                          I will lay me down
                                          Like a bridge over troubled water
                                          I will lay me down

Next time you're in a garden or park and see an empty bench, let that be an invitation to find rest for your soul by telling Jesus your needs or just spending time with him thanking Him for all he's done for you.  You don't have to wait to see a bench though, just picture in your mind the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed before His crucifixion, praying for you to come to know Him as your Savior and Lord and as your resting place!