Find rest in amazing grace

I continue with a brief look at one way you can get the matters in your life into proper perspective through brief reflections on Psalm 23.

Verse 2 states, "He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams." 

It is very important that time be taken to rest your body and mind. When this is forgotten, people rush around frantically seeking fulfillment.

People rush from one thing to another, almost like they are trying to avoid something. It’s like, if they remain busy enough, they won’t have to look at ghosts from the past. Or they won’t have to deal with pressures, real or imagined. Or they won’t have to pay attention to comments people made about them — real or imagined — telling them how pitiful or inadequate they might be.

It is quite easy to get caught up in life’s frustrations and frenzies. Matters demand your attention. Fears and uncertainties gnaw away at you. Demands seem to pull you in many different directions. There are times you may wonder about your ability to maintain your sanity.

The thing is, our Lord invites us to stop this madness, this rushing around, and to rest in his presence. He longs for us to hear how precious we are to him, that we are not the lies that are told about or to us. He longs for us to hear that we don’t need to rush from one thing to another, or to run from our pasts.

God continuously offers you comfort and peace, which will come to you if you would just let him lead you, as a shepherd leads his flock to rich, green pastures and cool refreshing water.

What our Lord offers – his refreshment, his nourishment, his peace – is there for us to receive as a gift. We have the ability to accept or reject that offer.

My recommendation? Receive the gift.

Utilize it.

Rest in his amazing grace, and in his peaceful presence.

The Rev. Mark Broadhead is pastor at Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Find rest in amazing grace