The Goodness of Unforced Rhythm

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."—Matthew 11:28-30, Message

And the reason the questions in this modern translation hit it out of the park is because, so often, the answer is:

Yes. Yes. And maybe—at least strangely restless with a sense that there’s got to be more than just being a good church-goer.

We are slow to get this, but how good to know that all through our journey, the perfect answer is always right in front of us, beside us, behind us, over us, and under us. Try as we might, perfect "rest" is not found in searching for another good idea out there that will make everything right, or a bigger or better this or that, or the ideal political leader, or even in one more lap around the track of world system insanity, but in trusting the One who personifies the word “rest,” and Who created it...and everything else.

  

This is no escape from reality, or sitting back and doing nothing. It's not something weird or mindless, either. Rather, it’s like the sweet spot—that unforced rhythm—a runner or walker or hiker feels when he is in step with his partner: the heart is pounding, the hills are steep at times, but there is someone there who is either talking with you or ready to listen every step of the way, and cheering you on when you’d rather call it a day. But more than a partner on the journey, this is the only One who leads the way perfectly every time, and whose trustworthy anthem is: "I Am the way, and the truth, and the life..."

Best of all, though a get-away would be nice, to get to a “Come to Me” kind of rest, we don’t have to go any further than the heart cry from our mouths, no matter where we happen to be:

“O Lord!”

“Here I Am”

"So teach my song to rise to You

    When temptations come my way

        And when I cannot stand I'll fall on You

           Jesus, You're my hope and stay."—Matt Maher