100 Days of HopeSample

Life-Giving Rhythms

None of us, rich or poor, old or young, is unacquainted with the lie that we can save ourselves. We rise early, we go to bed late, and in the hours between we toil. Work, of course, is healthy and good – God created us in his image as creators and cultivators of the good world he has entrusted to us as stewards. But when good things become ultimate things they devolve into idols that enslave and kill us – and with us, our neighbors and our world.

To people accustomed to eking out a living in the desert more than two thousand years ago and to our hyper-connected 24/7/365 world today, Isaiah extends the refreshing invitation of a loving God. Having followed the inclinations of our hearts to the point of futility and exhaustion, we’re invited to come home and rest. We’re invited to discover the sort of strength found not in trying harder but in trusting God and being silent before him.

Likewise, the psalmists invite us to be still and know that God is who he says he is. He will accomplish his work, and he will be exalted. Ultimately, the liberating news is that none of it depends on us. Abundant life has rhythm: work and rest, rest and work. An integrated whole. A gift we receive. We work because we are created in the image of our Creator. And we rest because our Creator rested. In this rhythm – this working, returning and resting – we find a strength not our own nor ours to keep.

Prayer: Lord, help us to rest in your grace and begin to cultivate life-giving rhythms centered on you.