Rest Or Restlessness

Now when the king lived in his house and the LORD had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies . . . 2 Samuel 7:1

I’ve got a CrossFit competition coming up in October of this year, three months now. If you asked me what would make me look back on my time between now and then with satisfaction, I’d say that it would please me if I trained hard and ate well so that I was in the best shape I could be at that time. Now I qualified for this competition a couple months ago, and even though I’ve trained hard since then, I’ve not eaten well. In fact, I’ve put on ten pounds. So, this morning, when I stepped on the scale, I was exasperated with myself. How did I get here? I got here by following my appetite, eating whatever I wanted. Eating what I want may bring me some pleasure or immediate gratification, but later, it frustrates me when I see the results on the scale.

Anyone who knows me knows that I have periods of success and periods of failure in my eating. I’ll work hard on it for a while, and then I’ll eventually surrender to my appetite. Well, the last month or two hasn’t been good. Looking back over the years, I’ve found a lot of joy in those times that I’ve done well. In the times I’ve not done well, I’ve been frustrated. When I do what’s good and healthy, I find contentment. When I seek pleasure in my own appetite, I find discontentment.

This is rest versus restlessness, which is the theme of today’s passage. In the story, David ascended to the throne of Israel and enjoyed a period of rest from war. The Hebrew word, nuach, implies rest as opposed to striving. Following God had meant personal sacrifice, but now David was able to enjoy the fruits of his obedience, finding rest and contentment in God. Later, David would seek to satisfy his own sexual appetite, causing himself tremendous misery. But at this point in the story, David followed God, finding rest.

I want that. When I try to satisfy myself in my own appetite, I may find immediate gratification and pleasure, but I don’t find contentment or rest. This is the story of my addiction, which lead to a life of chaos. In recovery, I began to seek God’s will for my life, finding rest from that chaos. The challenge today, is to continue to apply that to every area of my life. My appetite still wants that which brings pleasure but causes turmoil later. If I truly desire to be content, then daily, I must follow God instead of me. Only in doing so, will I find rest instead of restlessness.