January

The last two weeks of January were my late husband’s least favorite weeks of the year. We usually headed south for a change in scenery. It’s a hard habit to break, even though I have had to learn to go on my own.

The beach in January is a magical place. I feel no need to sit on the beach and work on my tan or catch the cooling ocean breezes. My swimsuit does not make the trip. No rowdy young adults are pursuing spring break history. It’s just us old folks and a few equally old canines.

Slow walks on the beach in a sweatshirt, meals scattered throughout the day, relaxing hours on the porch watching the waves and seagulls and dolphins.

Rest.

My garden needs it. The earth needs it. I need it. Sometimes, all we need to fix our problems is to turn off our life, wait a little while, then turn it back on again.

January seems the perfect time for that.

Jesus said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” Mark 6:31

After the hubbub of the holidays, after the excitement of making new plans, before I lose the excuse of bad weather, I need to shut down and rest.

I don’t know why God created us to need rest, but it seems He did.

Perhaps it is in rest that we are able to hear His voice. Perhaps it is in rest that we slow down enough to contemplate what we read in scripture, meditate on what we see in His creation, look for His hand in action.

We can have that rest and see His hand in 8” of snow, but I would rather take my rest on a deserted beach and see His hand in the ocean waves.

The quiet can be a bit unnerving, but it allows me, even forces me, to focus on things too easily hidden by busyness and noise.

On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wonderous works, I will meditate. Psalm 145:5.

Who knows what seeds God is putting down in this quiet time of rest. Who knows how the Spirit within me is communing with the Spirit above to mold me into a new creation? God knows. God knows that we need these quiet times for Him to transform us. God knows I need this quiet time of rest to delight in the Lord.

Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the Lord. And on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. Psalm 1:1-3.

What a lovely image for the people of God – trees with an endless supply of fresh water, yielding fruit, not withering under the stress of heat and time. Not bustling around or uprooted by storms or changing winds. Using the life-giving water of God to bear fruit that benefits others and carries the seeds for other trees.

Would I take the time to think about the beauty of what God is growing in believers if I did not take the time to rest? Or would I be busy stressing over the election….

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8.

Thinking on these things sounds like rest, feels like rest. And that is rest that I can find any and every day, in the heat of the summer, in 8” of snow, or on a quiet beach.

Rest, and let your roots find streams of His life-giving water.