Spiritual rest

Psalm 116:7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.

I've grappled with the concept of physical rest at times in my life. When I was in college, I befriended a student from Holland who used to nap every day around lunchtime. This baffled me, but she told me that she awoke refreshed and had a much more productive day afterwards.

Maybe that's why it's taken me so long to understand the concept of spiritual rest. I don't think there are many books of the bible that talk about spiritual rest more than the Psalms.

When I read these passages, I am always reminded that God's grace provides me with the spiritual rest I need and crave no matter what my life circumstances may be. When I'm doing HIs will, the balance is there in my life. When I'm not doing God's will, I am completely out of balance and therefore do not achieve spiritual rest.

I've tested this out many times - although not consciously setting out to do so. Usually I just take a wrong turn somewhere and do not make a choice based on sound spiritual judgment and I am thrown back onto my own resources - which do not include spiritual rest, physical rest or any type of rest! I am quickly out of sorts, tired and all kinds of frustrated.

But at least I'm getting better at spotting when this happens and trying to align myself back into God's will. I can tell within a short time when this happens because I feel an inner sense of peace and rest that is missing when I am not so aligned.

It is true that God is bountiful with me when I simply listen and try to discern what to do next and put God first. All my needs are taken care of and, at those times, my soul is at rest.