Rest on the Path

I spent four days watching my husband cough up a lung before he allowed me to take him to the ER. The first night in the hospital we did not sleep a wink. The attending doctor initially assured me that my man had a mild case of pneumonia, but that diagnosis changed quickly on day two when the blood work came back, and he struggled to take a breath. In a second, the path in front of me turned to quicksand.

My angelic sister in law drove two hours to come to support us. “You go home and rest,” she said.

Everything in my body said I needed to stay. I wanted to helicopter around my husband with constant love and prayers.

Instead, I grabbed my purse and walked to the elevator because I’d left my cold medicine at home, and I feared I’d end up confined in the hospital bed next to him with an IV of antibiotics coursing through my veins.

The gust of wind pummeled me once I exited the glass doors into the hospital parking lot. Frazzled and frail, I wandered around looking for my car in the dark night.

I drove home in a fog. I was unfamiliar with the neighborhood and wasn’t even sure I was heading in the right direction.

Have you ever pressed forward so long that the path grows unclear? I must confess that I do this all the time — and not just when my husband is hospitalized.

I run toward too busy-bee commitments that overwhelm my soul and neglect engaging in meaningful conversations.

I rush through urgent tasks on my temporal to do list and fail to make time for self care and spiritual renewal.

I race ahead to reach my agenda and forget to listen for God’s still small voice in the quiet.

I refuse to choose rest.

I fail to heed the warning of the weeping prophet: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘we will not walk in it’ “(Jeremiah 6:16).

Rather than work myself into a tizzy, God beckons me to rest — to choose to stand still, consider my ways, and choose wisely. As I worship in His quiet sanctuary, my Provider makes my path clear. He mends all that is broken in my weary heart. He erases all doubts and establishes my steps.

If we choose to rest on the path, God will

Strengthen us to keep moving forward unconfined and less hindered by obstacles along the way.

You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way (II Samuel 22:37; Psalm 18:36).

Draw us into His presence and fill us with His joy so that we move forward with keener spiritual eyesight.

You make known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand (Psalm 16:11).

Rescue us from wandering aimlessly and turn us around toward life and peace.

“He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3).

Enlighten our understanding of His perfect will, direct our every step, and fill us with His hope in dark times.

“Show me Your ways, Lord, teach me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long” (Psalm 25:4-5). “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path” (Psalm 119:105). “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them” (Isaiah 42:16).

Encourage our weary hearts when the crooked seek to deceive us and knock us out.

“When my spirit grows faint within me, it is You who watch over my way. In the path where I walk people have hidden a snare for me” (Psalm 142:3). “In all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:6). “I instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths” (Proverbs 4:11).

Choosing rest re-calibrates us. Rather than waddling in a stagnate mire, let’s purpose to allow God to refresh our hearts so that we walk forward with renewed purpose and power.