Do you find yourself day in day out feeling desperate for more rest?
Do you feel tired most of the time?
Rejoice, for the Lord is your rest.
“But…” you ask, “…how will that help me when I’m awake yet again three hours before my alarm is set to go off?”
Rest is a way of life. It is a spiritual state in Christ, not merely a physical experience.
As parents, we have all experienced the temptation to resent the interruptions to our sleep that come when children wake in the middle of the night. But, even at four in the morning, there is rest for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purposes.
My children seldom wake me in the middle of the night anymore. Nonetheless, as my youngest child approaches adulthood, I find that I am once again awake during hours that my natural mind insists are for sleep. I used to get very angry about this early wakefulness, which had no obvious cause. But by God’s grace, and by my pastor’s humble example, I am now finding those times some of the most restful that I experience. And as I do, I am learning that Jesus means what He says when He declares:
28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
–Matthew 11:28-30 (NASB 1995) (emphasis in the original indicating an Old Testament quote)
I am learning the joy of worshiping the Lord in the “Night Watch.” When He wakes me in the middle of the night, which He does almost every night these days, I can rejoice knowing there are brothers and sisters all throughout the land who are watching with me in that time.
We stand united in and through Holy Spirit, even though we cannot see each other with our physical eyes. We call down heaven–-the light that cannot be quenched–-in the time when the enemy would seek to work in darkness on the earth.
Indeed, there is a quiet at that time of night that speaks of His loving presence in a way I don't quite hear when everyone else is awake. If you have read any of the other blog entries that I have shared on our website, then you have almost certainly encountered the fruits of the Night Watch. It is indeed a beautiful time to be with Him.
So whether He calls us to care for a crying child or to give birth to a word of encouragement, Jesus never wastes the time we are awake when others are asleep. He is the one who refreshes our spirits despite our flesh's complaints.
I invite all who are a part of the Night Watch to rejoice in the Lord, to thank Him that He is our rest, and to bless the Lord with our whole souls.
1 Behold, bless the LORD, all servants of the LORD, Who serve by night in the house of the LORD! 2 Lift up your hands to the sanctuary And bless the LORD. 3 May the LORD bless you from Zion, He who made heaven and earth.
–Psalm 134 (NASB 1995)
Intercessors, when you pray for a frightened nation, take comfort that He will multiply your rest. And when you join me at 4:00 AM in declaring the freedom of all parents to lead their children in the way they should go, know that you and I are blessed to rest in the One who loves us, even if our bodies are awake while our families are asleep.