Riding Thermals- Evans Hundermark

Riding Thermals…

Because thermals are invisible, the best way to locate them was to look for birds, especially vultures or eagles, who had found a thermal and circled within it, expending little energy while effortlessly rising ever higher. You cannot see the thermal, but you can see the effect of it on the birds, or leaves, or airborne dust as it rises within the column of air.

I have never seen an eagle or vulture circling in a thermal stressed out, anxious, or exhausted! They seem to be at rest, soaring ever higher without using any energy. Oh, to live life like an eagle in a thermal!

Thinking of those birds in a thermal reminds me of the christian life in a world that is topsy turvy and filled with busyness and rush. Life should be lived out of a place of rest and inner peace, raised ever higher by the power of the Spirit and the hope of Christ within us, not dragged down by the anxieties, stresses, and rush of everyday life. So, how do we find peace and rest in the chaos and rush of the world around us – OR to put it another way – how do we ride ‘the thermals’ amidst the craziness of life?

By nature I am a workaholic – I struggle to ‘rest’ and take time out of my busy schedule to do things that have nothing to do with work. My family has suffered as a result, my health has suffered, even my work has suffered, and so I have had to learn to build rhythms of rest into my life. Rhythms of rest, like thermals, may be unseen, but they elevate us above the wrestlings, trials, and stresses of life restoring, refreshing, and renewing us.

This is where God wants me to be, how He wants me to do life, all from a place of rest. We cannot function without rest. God wired us for rest, and therefore, one of the first commands, not suggestions, that God gave man was to rest, and He initiated this command with the example of resting Himself (Genesis 2:2). Throughout the Old Testament, He commands us to honour the Sabbath and keep it Holy (Exodus 20:8-11), and Jesus even commented that the Sabbath was made for man (Mark 2:27). You need rest my brother or sister!

We have been taught though that to ‘rest’ means to be lazy or is unproductive – We measure our days by what we have accomplished “what have I got to show for this day?” instead of how we are doing. We treat rest as a luxury or an add-on or a reward…if we have the time. Instead it should be treated as a command from God and a necessity in order to function at our best. We need to prioritize building rhythms of rest into our lives and our schedules .

Let me share briefly the rhythms of rest I have built into my life:

• Daily – I take about an hour to spend with God and His Word in order to refresh my soul and spirit. This time of rest launches me into my day, and I begin my day in a state of rest.

• Weekly – I take a day to spend with my family, read something to feed my soul, or get out and away from the regular grind of work. Sometimes I just do nothing!

• Annually – I take four days with nothing but the Bible, and I get away by myself. My family, and previous boards, have released me to do this. It is four days with nothing but God’s word, where I choose a passage and then read it through several times over those four days – My key verse for this is Mark 6:31 “Come away with Me to a desolate place and rest awhile.” I also take a couple of weeks each year for vacation to focus on my family, myself, and hang out with Jesus. I am jealous over this time and guard it carefully.

• Every 5-7 years – I take a three-month sabbatical from work. I study a course, read a couple of books, sleep, do nothing, just rest!

The danger is that in our quest for rest or building rhythms of rest, we just add another program or task to an already full and busy schedule. Living from a place of rest is not about doing another thing or adding something else to our busy schedules. Being in a place of rest means finding my home, my existence, my everyday life centred and anchored in the presence of Jesus. Walking with Him, listening for Him to speak, sensing Him – Take courage is in His promise, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14).

Dear pastor, church leader, elder, brother, and sister in the Lord, as you prepare to lead church, be involved with worship this weekend, or run a Sunday school class – do you feel like you are leading and living from a place of rest? Do thoughts of Jesus consume your heart and mind? Do you sense His presence around you, within you? Does the Spirit lift you up this evening like the thermal beneath the eagle’s wings? Do you need rest?

Please know that as you prepare to engage with your church this weekend that I will be praying FOR YOU. I pray that the God of peace will grant you His shalom and His rest – even when your mind is tired, your heart is anxious, in the midst of conflict or criticism, and busyness, and preparation. May He be your strength, your hope, your peace, and your joy! Take heart, dear Christian, and do not be discouraged, He is your rest!