The harder I work, the more I earn
The more I make, the less I save
The more I spend, the more I’m spent
And the more I’m spent, the more I fear.
This vicious cycle, is constantly
Steering through cheerless solitariness
Into a lonely-untimely grave because
I am all I have, I am all I trust, and add
All I am to all I do and it’s still not enough
To keep me going from day to day.
Doctor recommended rest but I can’t
Afford it: I am all I have and all I trust
I can’t buy rest without the currency of trust
And I can’t afford the risk, to share my trust.
It could get mangled by marauders, stolen
By thieves, traded by traitors: inestimable risks;
I could lose it, I could lose me, I could lose all.
Though Doctor counsels, “Trust invested
Is never lost: only those who abuse it lose it
Because they know not the value, they don’t care,
Ignorant of the price of such invaluable losses
But those who know, those who are courageous
To dare to share it, never lose trust or value:
It is not about what others do to or with your trust
It is what you do with it, how you deal with it
And the returns that accrue from such transactions
One of which is rest that none can ever steal.

How do you rest in a world where it seems everyone is hustling without ceasing? How do you even dare to stop in the midst of all the bustling and bumbling about and not get run over by the ever so desperate ones who are constantly seeking and never finding, ever earning to put in leaking pockets, who the more the get the greedier they become? It is a tough world we live in. Yet, it is in this same position that God calls to us all, to come into His rest. Rest? Yes, I will not be surprised to learn that the lives of many have lost the meaning of rest.

How do you rest with all that is lined up waiting for your attention? Isn’t that irresponsibility? Yet, we go from day to day without rest and still wonder why we oft miss things we shouldn’t. We get easily distracted, often carried away by little things, worn out and overcome by minor issues, because we spend day in day out on our feet and never get refreshed enough to locate and maintain our focus. That is why many are taken out by hidden traps, worn out by little snares, and finished by nothing because our energy has been spent struggling to make a living.

It is good to know that God’s Word yet calls us to rest because none of us can survive by the sweat of our brows. We can’t fix the world. We can’t even fix ourselves and our issues. God knows that we live in a tough world and that rest is essential for us to thrive. We rest not because the world is less dangerous. We relax because our trust is anchored in a more dangerous God who is on our side. We rest when we learn to trust and obey Him. The rest of God is given to all but only those who dare to trust Him absolutely, and are diligently living in accordance to His will, enjoy the fullness of the manifestation of that promised rest. Taking it the other way, it implies that if you can’t look up to God with trust, you can’t enter into His rest.

But how can they trust when they know not? How will they know except they are told? Hence, His Word comes again and again, wooing our trust, that we may cast our cares on the faithful God. I used to feel that I had to manage my balls lest they drop – God’s hands are too full juggling too many peoples’ issues and I don’t want to take a risk on mine. And if I drop it, I deal with it but I just couldn’t bear God or anyone else dropping my balls, betraying my trust, letting me down. And I guess I felt like I had to help God not to let me down and ruin His almightily infallible reputation.

Yet over the years, I have come to learn that I lose nothing when I choose to trust God in spite of all. Whenever we choose the contrary, we severe the channel through which God can reach out to us, to demonstrate His immense power to awaiting creation. When we find it hard to trust God, we find it even harder to trust anybody. And what a misery life is for those who have to constantly look out for themselves!

I have known the rest of trusting God. The rest of following as He leads to those I can trust in awesomely deep and richly fulfilling relationships. I don’t trust the world but I trust God and I trust those to whom He has led me to open my heart to. They are not perfect yet I trust them because life is beautiful that way than when spent in distrust. There is none of us on this planet that is or ever will be perfect. Only God is and He is deserving of our trust. Because He knows the beauty and riches of trust, He brings our ways, men and women who inspire, motivate, and remind us of His love toward us, to whom we can also do the same. God won’t do for you, what He can use another to accomplish in your life and when we turn those away in distrust, we are the ultimate losers.

I used to be one of those losers who wouldn’t trust another. As I was sharing with my mother a few days back, it was amazing to see how my life has flourished in so short a time simply because I was sensitive to identify those destiny builders that Abba brought my way. God can bring them but He won’t force a relationship. We have to learn to open the doors of our hearts, air our trust, and rest in God who preserves the weak. And we all sure have our weaknesses so the atmosphere of trust is mutually beneficial. Today, my life is richer because I am learning who to trust, when to trust, how to trust, and every day, my rest in enhanced as I learn to invest more and more of this priceless resource called trust.

As you stand in the line of life, may you look up with faith in your heart to see in God’s eyes, that infallible hope that ushers into His rest. As you go through the varying streets of experiences, may you now and always cast your vote of confidence on Him who never fails. And as He brings inestimable hearts your way, whose values you can’t tell by their looks and possibly acts, may you open your arms in trust and embrace the rest of God in His ordained relationships, amen.

Glory!