Rest from the Weariness
Just a reminder about this week’s HOPE Infertility Support Group at Lakewood Church!
Lakewood Church
Thursday, June 6, 2013
3700 Southwest Frwy., Houston, Texas
7:00 p.m., Rm. 4025, 4th Floor
[email protected]
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“Let’s take a vacation.” I said to Aaron from the couch as he was grinding our morning coffee across from me in the kitchen.
“Let’s close our eyes, point to a map and where ever our finger lands on, let’s drive there and do nothing.”
Aaron chuckled. I guess he thought I was being cute. I wasn’t. I was dead serious. Eight years together, and five years of marriage, we have never taken a relaxing getaway since, well, ever. On every “get away” our rest was second priority to tours, strict schedules, or visits. I needed complete relaxation. My emotions are spent, my heart has been through the ringer, and my mind has been fried during three years of infertility and two busy years of Aaron in grad school and interning. Rest would be good for us.
Thankfully when I closed my eyes and pointed on the map, my finger landed on Destin, Florida. I may have been peeking a little. White sand, blue water, and doing nothing but laying on the beach next to my partner in crime and reading C.S. Lewis while getting reenergized physically, mentally, and spiritually – is exactly what we need. Rest.
Have you ever been there? Have you been to the point where you think, “God, I don’t know how much longer I can do this?” and beg for a lounge chair while you watch the blue waves roll in on the beach? Have you been in desperate need of rest?
Elijah was there too in 1 Kings 19. After conquering an army and fleeing from death threats, Elijah “went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.’ Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree.” (verses 4-5 NLT)
Walking the infertility road is excruciating and sometimes we feel like Elijah, like we have had enough. I remember a few months into our fertility journey and I said to Aaron, “I don’t know what I’ll do if we have a hard time getting pregnant.” Then months turned into years and I found myself growing more and more weary.
When we become weary, that is a sign that we should stop and rest. The more weary we become, the more we worry. The more we worry, the more we forget God’s power to do the impossible. Weariness and worry are cracks for the enemy to slip in to our thought life, our emotions, our relationships, and our lives. We must guard ourselves, by giving ourselves grace to rest in His comfort and His peace.
But we aren’t left to our own devices to carry the weight of our struggles. 1 Kings 19 continues to tell us how God provided for Elijah’s weariness:
“Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, ‘Get up and eat!’ He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again. Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.’ So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God.” (verses 5-8 NLT)
Just like God provided the nourishment Elijah needed in his season of weariness, if we allow him, God is quick to provide us the same nourishment we need for our season. He is our provider of peace, supernatural rest that we need, and spiritual revelation that draws us into an intimate relationship with Him. He knows the journey ahead is too much for us to handle on our own and he is willing to renew us and give us what we need in our weariness, if we are willing to rest in Him.
True rest is not only physical but it is spiritual. We will never be truly rested if we don’t rest in our spirits and dine upon the things of God and his Word. When we begin to consume God, we begin to rest in our faith, worry and weariness is broken, and we are renewed in our mind and our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit.
So while a trip to the beach may not be in the cards at the moment, find the rest you need in Him. Take time each day to lay your burdens at his feet, meditate on his Word, and ask him to give you the nourishment you need.
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Hannah Bunker is a contributing writer to Dancing Upon Barren Land, online Christian infertility support ministry. She’s a writer who authors Everything Sunny Always, a blog that helps navigate the waves of life with a quirky dose of humor, an attitude of hope, and answers the question, “How much coffee can one girl drink?” The answer is a lot. Her greatest calling, besides writing her current book, “Waiting for Grace,” is loving people and using her writing to encourage others. She’s wife to a spectacular man, Aaron, and snuggle-buddy to a fluffy poodle, Millie. Come give a virtual high-five at hannahbunker.com.