Resting in God

One of the books I pray with often is the prayer book Seeking God’s Face – it’s one that we used for several years with council and one that we read and preached with for a year as a whole church several years ago. And this week, it’s been the repeated daily invitation at the beginning of the prayer time that has caught my attention: “Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.” Deuteronomy 33:12

The first thing I notice in this is an invitation to rest secure in God. Our book discussion of Liturgy of the Ordinary concluded last week, and the final chapter was about rest. Resting is related to accepting our limits, remembering that we are not God. One of the interesting insights from the chapter was how in Genesis 1, as we noticed a few weeks ago, the rhythm is ‘there was evening and there was morning, the first (or second, etc) day.’ The day begins in the evening, with rest. Rest comes first. God’s goodness, God’s provision, God’s love is there before we do anything. And as I read this invitation from Deuteronomy first thing in the morning, before I do anything, there’s an invitation to rest. To trust God’s goodness, to remember that God is God and I am not.

A couple of weeks ago Jay and I had the honor of officiating Josh Hiemstra and Meredith Fennema’s wedding, and in his meditation, Jay quoted this sonnet from Wendell Berry:

Whatever is foreseen in joy

Must be lived out from day to day.

Vision held open in the dark

By our ten thousand days of work.

Harvest will fill the barn; for that

The hand must ache, the face must sweat.

And yet no leaf or grain is filled

By work of ours; the field is tilled

And left to grace. That we may reap,

Great work is done while we’re asleep.

When we work well, a Sabbath mood

Rests on our day, and finds it good.

This invitation from Deuteronomy reminds me to rest in the goodness of God, even before I begin my day, so that I can attend to my daily tasks well.

A couple of images come to mind with this invitation too, with the part about resting between God’s shoulders. The first is a scene from the Lord of the Rings movies when giant eagles appear and rescue Gandalf and his friends. As I remember it, Gandalf rides on an eagle’s back, between its shoulders. The image of God as a mighty eagle, bearing us up, rescuing us. There are moments when I would love to fly away on the back of an eagle….

The second image is a memory of how Jay and I would carry our kids, when they were small, on our backs in a cloth backpack when we were hiking or taking long walks. The image of God carrying us, safe and secure, snuggled in on God’s back.

And even though I might sometimes wish for God to swoop in like an eagle and rescue me from my fears and from some of the challenges of daily life, it’s this second image I’m finding most helpful this week – the reminder that God is really close, really near. It’s awfully easy for me to forget this in these times of so much uncertainty about what is ahead, and in these times of separation from people that I love. I need this daily reminder that God is not up, not far away, not distant, but near, carrying me on God’s own back, snug and secure. Holding me when I am afraid and uncertain, when I’m upset with myself or others, carrying me in the ups and downs of each day. God is with me, holding me safe between God’s shoulders.

I’m keeping this image in mind as I’m praying for you all this week – praying for peace of mind, for rest, praying you will know you are held close by God in love.

 “Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.” Deuteronomy 33:12