Lectio
“Your little bird is happy to be weak and little… to fall asleep in front of You… its little heart is at peace.”
— St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Story of a Soul
Meditatio
For those of us inclined to busyness, to the active life, it can feel burdensome, even terrifying, to slow down, to let things be, and to trust God to be God. We fill every quiet moment with noise, every empty space with activity, and every silence with distraction. Even sleep can feel like a chore to be avoided or a hardship to be endured because it means stopping. It means vulnerability. It means trusting.
But we rarely, if ever, consider this from God’s perspective. He is, after all, our Heavenly Father, and we are His children whom He loves with His entire being — so much that He would give His entire self to us, so much that He would die for us. What must it do to God to see us so busy, so frantic, and so restless that we cannot or will not even stop long enough to realize that we are loved?
No loving parent wants their child to be restless, to be discomforted, or to be ill-at-ease. No loving parent wants to see their child overly exhausted, stressed, or sick. No loving parent wants their child to feel unloved or to perceive themselves as being unworthy or incapable of being loved. And so it is with God and His beloved children — with us.
Likewise, no loving parent only tolerates a sleeping child — they linger over her, delighted just to watch her rest, at times overwhelmed by her purity, her beauty, and the preciousness of this moment of unabated vulnerability and trust. That to rest like this means she feels safe, protected — that she feels loved.
Perhaps this is the deeper invitation of Sabbath, and the gift we so rarely think to give back to God — not our toil or even our acts of worship, but simply the sight of us at peace, trusting enough to close our eyes in front of Him, unguarded and unafraid — that He might simply watch us rest, the way any parent lingers at a child’s bedside, needing nothing more from us than that, because He loves us.
Oratio
Altar Of Rest
watch over me Father
as I lie down to rest
it is not easy for me
to be still
to trust
to let You be God
it is not easy to me
to lie down
on this altar of faith
to give my life to You
as You have given
Your life to me
watch over me Father
as I offer myself to You
this night
Contemplatio
Close your eyes, if only for a breath, and trust that you are being watched over with delight rather than demand. There is nothing to prove here — only a heart, at peace, willing to be seen at rest. Hold this in stillness, withholding nothing, and let Him move as He will.
Related Scripture
“The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”
— Zephaniah 3:17 (NRSVCE)
For Further Reading
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like Bearing the Yoke of Love: Hilary of Poitiers and the Burden That Makes Us Whole, which turns from this post’s rest in God’s delight toward the sweetness of a burden no longer carried alone.
Robert Van Valkenburgh
Grappling With Divinity.
Wrestling With God.
Returning To Love.
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