The rest you need

There may be times when, for one reason or another, you can't get sleep. But there are never times when you can't turn to God. And the rest you need comes from God, who cares for you and supplies you with what you need. A good night's sleep is certainly right and normal. But sleep isn't really the key to feeling rested. What is, is understanding God and our relationship to Him.

God is Love and Truth and Life. He made all, including you, and made creation perfect, expressing His nature. He sustains all. He is the source of strength and ongoing freshness. A perception of these spiritual facts provides a mental refuge in which you can find needed rest.

Christ Jesus said, ''Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.'' n1 Come unto the Christly understanding of yourself as the spiritual man of God's creating, and rest is readily available. What exhausts us is a mortal, material concept of ourselves with its accompanying fear, sensuality, frustration, and so forth. Through discerning and practicing Jesus' teachings we can progressively shed this false sense.

n1 Matthew 11:28

The move Christ Jesus referred to in the statement just quoted is a mental and moral one. It involves coming to a right understanding of God and of man as God's expression. And it involves remaining conscious of that truth through prayer and through bringing our thoughts and lives into harmony with Jesus' teachings. Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered and founded Christian Science, says, ''The consciousness of Truth rests us more than hours of repose in unconsciousness.'' n2

n2 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 218.

The fact is, activity and rest aren't really in opposing camps. From a spiritual point of view, they share common ground. Think of God as infinite Love. Divine Love is ever active, loving and sustaining you, me, the whole of creation. But could infinite Love become depleted in any way by loving and sustaining its creation? Of course not. It wouldn't be infinitem Love if it did. Love is endlessly being what Love is, doing what Love does, without pause. Love rests during the doing, not between bursts of loving and sustaining. Mrs. Eddy says, ''God rests in action.'' n3

n3 Ibid., p. 519

What about man? He is the constant reflection of God, divine Love. In reality , then, in our true selfhood as God's reflection, rest and activity occur simultaneously. None of us yet fully knows himself or herself as the constant reflection of God. If we did, there would be no limit to what we could do, how long we could go. But to the extent that we do become conscious of ourselves this way, as the very emanation of God, who rests in action, we will find rest naturally and continually. To a greater degree we'll find we've got what it takes to get through strenuous challenges. And more. On the other side of those strenuous challenges we'll still be refreshed and ready.

One of the wonderful things about God is that He perpetually cares for us. He doesn't hold back His blessings. Even if our understanding of how God sustains us seems meager, we'll have what we need as we turn to Him, because He is infinite, universal Love.

The Bible promises, ''When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.'' n4 We can turn to God and get the rest we need.

n4 Proverbs 3:24.

DAILY BIBLE VERSE Thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety. Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid. Job 11:18, 19

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