Open the Door, It’s Unlocked

Rest isn't easy in a world that moves nonstop, but God's peace and comfort are worth the moment away.

Rest is a word I've been avoiding. I used to love it when I had 2-3 hours of free time and recently, the thought of being alone for that long terrifies me. For me, rest means thinking and dealing with things I haven't been ready to deal with on my own because I thought I hadn't heard God say anything in a little bit. As if God doesn't speak the loudest when I stop to actually listen. Psalms 46:10 says to "Be still..." and yet here I am, scared of stillness because I fear that if I am still for this moment, then I might just miss the next one because of it. But 9 times out of 10, I don’t. The next moment comes like clockwork because God doesn’t want to punish us for stopping our world to be with Him. In fact, he relishes in that time we take for him because it’s in those moments where we have paused long enough for him to wrap us in His arms and whisper “It’s okay, I’ve got you now. “ If I took half the time in a day that I spend with people aimlessly doing nothing, and invested it into my relationship with God, I think God would get sick of me.

But that’s the beauty of it. God doesn’t tire of us running to him for counsel and comfort. He is always there, with an open ear ready to listen to us ramble for hours on end about what we are going through simply because he loves to hear our voice. God will never need us to tell Him what is happening in our lives because he already knows not only what is happening but also how it will play out. But he invites us to share anyways. God has full access to the information about our stories, but until we give Him access into them, we won’t find the comfort we are seeking.

“God has full access to the information about our stories, but until we give Him access into them, we won’t find the comfort we are seeking.”

God wants more than anything to reach out and grab us in our times of hurt and pain, but it’s like he is on the other side of the door shouting “I’m here for you! I promise I can give you what you need” and we just have to open the door to let him in. We don’t have to pretend to be okay and strong in His presence. We don’t have to wipe the tear streaks under our eyes to hide the pain we feel. We don’t have to have a game plan of what the next month or even the next day looks like. We just have to open the door, let him inside, and rest in his presence.