Return to Your Rest, O My Soul

Have you noticed how, with anxiety, rest becomes something you have to be reminded of? The soul grows used to tension, to watchfulness, to constant alertness, until it forgets what it feels like to rest. That's why the psalmist, in a beautiful gesture, invites his own soul to come back home: "Return unto thy rest, O my soul." Rest isn't some strange place you have to conquer — it's the place you came from and can return to. And the reason for the return is the memory of God's goodness: "for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee." Can you look back and see the good God has already done for you? He's the one who brought you this far, who held you up in the times you swore you wouldn't make it. A soul that remembers the good it has received can rest, because it trusts the same God is still caring for it. Today, speak to your tired soul the way you'd call a son or daughter back home: "Return to your rest. He was good to you before, and he will be again. You can let your shoulders drop now."