White Cottage Bungalow {Refusal of Rest Leads to Captivity}

 

It’s when the air exhales summer and inhales the crisp, fresh bite of a fall apple that I get a hankering to own a cabin.  I find myself daydreaming, nestled in my white cottage bungalow, buried deep in pine needles and wild flowers.  I am a solitary confinement type of gal which is probably why God gave me four busy kids, pulling me out of myself and into the lives of others.

But, for one moment, let me dwell there.  For one season, let me rest.  I’d have to take my Tempurpedic pillow and mattress, fleece leopard jammies, Minnetonka house shoes, and mass amounts of strong coffee laced with Sweet Italian Cream.  God’s letter to me in one hand and commentaries on how to interpret it would be sprawled everywhere.  I’d be covered in Bethel music, C. S. Lewis tales, and the quilt my Great Aunts pieced by hand.

I’d listen for only one voice…the most beautiful voice in the universe.

I’ve thought about the Sabbath and how honoring it was for our good.  It wasn’t just another harsh rule from a so-called hard to please God.  God knit every sinew of our beings together and wove a beautiful soul in the hidden places.  Wouldn’t that God know that His precious beings needed rest?

Perhaps the greatest reason that the Israelites were taken into captivity is because they didn’t let the land rest and lay fallow every seven years like God instructed.  If it’s one thing I want to carry forward from this moment, it’s this:  refusal of rest leads to captivity.  Captivity on me looks like stress, anxiety, refusing to trust God’s heart, fear, worry, and anger.  What does captivity look like on you?

In that illusive cabin, I want to lie on His chest and listen to His heart that beats for me.

But, I bet I can start right now.