Finding Rest for Your Soul This New Year

With Christmas over, the pressure to set goals and New Year’s resolutions is upon us. 

But what if you don’t have it in you this year – to up the ante to accomplish great things? Maybe the year ahead brings feelings of apprehension and complacency instead of excitement. What if, over the past year, you’ve simply been trying to get by and hold on? 

While there have been sparkling moments for our family over the past five years, there have also been devastating, life-altering events that require healing and time to process. As I write today, it seems disingenuous to charge ahead with shiny new goals, especially after a busy holiday season when I only want to lay low and find a place of respite. And yet, seeking rest and taking a step back can seem like a cop-out in our driven culture.

But is it a cop-out? Rest is essential for healing. The One who created us calls us to it; He knows we need it. 

Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” The verse continues, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” 

 Isn’t that what we all really want? Rest for our souls? But in our culture, finding stillness and peace can be one of our biggest challenges. When we stay busy – working long hours, helping others, burning the midnight oil, or even scrolling through our screens, our minds don’t have the opportunity to reflect and recognize the wounds that need healing.  And maybe the fear of introspection is holding us back – looking at how we’ve been hurt is uncomfortable at best.  It can be tough, especially when we try to handle the pain on our own. 

God is the God of Hope

But God, our wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, and God of hope, invites us to bring our pain to Him where we can unload our heavy hearts and lay down our burdens.

Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Hope is beautiful; it lifts us and sustains us during difficult times. 

Rest for our souls comes when we have peace.  Peace with the triune God results in peace of mind. 

Does Doubt Try to Steal Your Peace?

But what if you go to God regularly and share your heart with him, holding nothing back? And day after day, you meet with him, and yet there are times when you feel nothing, hear nothing, and wonder, “God, are you here?” “Do you see me?” “Do you care?”  What then?

Last week, early Christmas morning, I woke to the feeling of great loss.   So by candlelight, in the stillness, in the darkness of that early morning, I laid it all before the Lord, hoping for immediate comfort.  But what I felt was not comfort; instead, I felt nothing, just a black void causing me to feel anxious as my mind suggested perhaps God didn’t really care.  

But I remembered I had been in this place of doubt before and understood that my feelings were not fact. My mother’s words, ” This too shall pass,” whispered to my heart. As a teenager, I used to roll my eyes at those words, but now they held. Sitting in that familiar, heavy space, my past experiences urged me to be patient.

As I sat, “Wait on the Lord” came to my mind, so I quickly searched verses.  

Psalm 37:7 says, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; “ 

I thought about that.  Why must we wait? Is God quickly scrambling to fix a situation? Is he anxiously trying to put the pieces together?  No, of course not; He is a sovereign God.   So I looked up verses about God being in control and found:

Colossians 1:17, NIV, “He is before all things, and in Him, all things hold together.”   

And

Ecclesiastes 3:11, NIV, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart, yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” 

These verses comforted my soul and quieted my mind, though my circumstances had not changed. I still saw the pain in the eyes of my husband, my remaining children, and my father-in-law on Christmas day. Our son, my mother, mother-in-law, niece, and uncle all passed away in the past few years.  And I thought about the rest of our extended family experiencing first and second Christmases without our loved ones.  

Harsh realities can test our faith, but we are not alone in times of doubt and uncertainty. 

In Psalm 27, the psalmist cries out to God to hear him, be merciful, and answer him. He reminds himself to remain “confident that he will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” and to “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” He encourages himself two times to “wait for the Lord” and to be strong while doing it! 

Waiting with an Expectant Heart

Though my heart was heavy, love comforted it. As the day progressed, I saw the light in my loved ones’ eyes sparkle as we recalled memories, shared laughter, exchanged gifts, and made plans for the coming year. The God of hope had filled our day with joy and peace.

This new year, allow for healing, make room to be still, and wait on the Lord.   If it feels impossible to trust God enough to wait for him to move in your circumstances or provide comfort, tell him so.  He already knows your hang-ups and fears and loves you just the same.   He came to give us peace within ourselves and with Him.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your faithfulness as we cross the threshold into the new year.  Help us see your goodness in our lives.  Please give us strength and courage as we wait for you, and help us recognize truth over lies.  And Father, I ask that we are drawn to you in stillness and allow you to heal our broken hearts.  Please give us rest for our souls and hope for the new year. In Jesus name, Amen