“In the deep jungles of Africa, a traveler was making a long trek. Native tribesmen had been engaged from a local tribe to carry the loads. The first day they marched rapidly and went far. The traveler had high hopes of a speedy journey. But the second morning these jungle tribesmen refused to move. For some strange reason they just sat and rested. On inquiry as to the reason for this strange behavior, the traveler was informed that they had gone too fast the first day, and that they were now waiting for their souls to catch up with their bodies”.
I love this beautiful story from Mrs Lettie Cowman’s (1870-1960) book Springs in the Valley. It expresses exactly how many of us feel living in this modern day, fast paced world we live in.
It often seems like there are not enough hours in the day; there is not enough time do everything that needs to be done, which causes us to feel stressed as we try to keep up with all the demands that life places on us.
Not only is there not enough time to stop and rest, but it seems counter-productive; taking time to rest only places further pressure on us at some point in the future as we scramble to keep up with everything.
Rest is no longer something that is part of our lifestyle. It has become a luxury and often we feel guilty if we indulge.
We long for moments of rest, perhaps holidays where we can stop and take a break from the pressures of daily – and unfortunately what has become “normal” – life.
We know when our bodies are tired, we know when our minds are tired and we know what we need to do to rest them. But what about your soul? Do you take time to rest your soul?
Mrs. Cowman concludes her story with this insightful statement: “This whirling rushing life which so many of us live does for us what that first march did for those poor jungle tribesmen. The difference – they knew what they needed to restore life’s balance; too often we do not.”
It is incredible to realize that Lettie Cowman wrote these words over fifty years ago. How much more do we need to stop and rest our souls today?
In Matthew 11:28 Jesus said “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”.
Jesus was not talking about physical rest, he was talking about spiritual rest – rest for your soul.
The soul needs rest as much as the body and the mind need rest. Without it we can not sustain life.
How many of us know this is true, yet in our weariness and burdens we try to figure things out in our minds instead of going to the place where we can find answers and rest for our soul.
Yes we can rest in many ways that are good, such as going on a holiday, taking a break from the daily grind, going for a walk in nature, listening to peaceful music and so on. But there is only one way to find the deepest rest of all for your soul. Jesus said “I am the way”.
His is a deep rest and we can experience this rest for our souls every day if we only take the time to “Be still”. Your mind may try and fight it and tell you things like “I haven’t got time to stop and be still – there is too much to do”. Be kind to yourself and take the time anyway.
There is incredible peace to be found when you take some time each day to find a quiet place and not let your mind think about all your worries but instead focus on God and the peace that He wants to pour into your soul.
MacLaren describes this experience beautifully when he says “There is peace in submission; peace in abdicating the control of my own being; peace in saying, ‘Take the reins Lord, and rule and guide me.’ There is peace in surrender”.
Praying you find peace and rest for your soul this week as you meditate on Him.
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