From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed.  Lead me to the towering rock of safety. (NLT)

Where, who, what do you run to when your heart is overwhelmed? Is it a relationship or a hobby that you love? Do you immerse yourself in work? Perhaps you find escape at the bottom of a bottle. Or do you cry out to God to lead you to a place of peace and safety like David did in his time of distress?      

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If I am to be transparent with you, I would have to admit that I too have sought peace and refuge in all the “other places” at times in my life before I turned to God and found the peace that my soul longed for so much. I also realize that when I’ve turned to something else, I knew in my heart that God was right there for me, ready to be my refuge. But he seemed to always be the last place I looked.

Are we in our own way? As I ponder this question, I look back on the challenging moments in my life before and after I started my relationship with Christ: a troubled home life as a child, struggles with my career, the loss of a child, divorce…I felt as if these were my situations, my issues, and that I had control over them. I would determine their outcome. I can’t say for certain, but I have a feeling David also tried to work things out on his own before turning to God. What is it about our human nature that makes us think we can do it on our own?  

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Recently, Pastor Cody preached a sermon called I Don’t Want To. In it, he talked about how during times of trouble in our lives, God does not take away the discomfort we are facing but walks through it with us. Oddly enough (or Godly enough), the next day, I was reading my devotional My Utmost for His Highest, a compilation of sermons preached by Oswald Chambers, an evangelist and YMCA Chaplain to British troops in World War I. In it Chambers writes about the peace of surrendering self being at the heart of our rest in Jesus, from Matthew 11:28. It said, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.” In other words, Jesus invites us to come to him first, and, when he says, “Come to me,” it is a voluntary coming.  

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If we know this, then why do we put ourselves through what we do? Why don’t we look to find our rest in God first? It could be that God allows it to happen this way, and even if he does not, he certainly knows what we are going through and wants us to experience his peace. So next time you are going through those things in life that keep you awake at night, that occupy your thoughts throughout the day, that continually trouble you, remember where our true rest comes from. Call out like David did to be led to the towering rock of safety and hear Jesus’ invitation to voluntarily go to him and find your peace.    

Heavenly Father, life is not easy. It’s full of challenges and times of discomfort. We face moments of uncertainty and feel lost at times; we feel there is no way out. But Most High, we pray during these times that we would remember Psalm 61:2 and call out, like David, for you to lead us to the towering rock of safety, that we would hear Christ’s voluntary call of peace promised in Matthew 11:28 and that you would give us rest. In Jesus’ name, Amen.