By: Steve Wilmot
Home. There’s just something about that word. Dorothy was spot on when she uttered those memorable words in The Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home.”
Home is the space where you can kick back and just be you. Home is the place where you feel safe and secure. Calm and at rest.
Home is where everything is familiar. Your chair, your bed, your bathroom, your TV remote. You can sit in your underwear and burp to your heart’s content.
Have you ever considered that your soul needs a space where it can be safe, secure and stable? If your body needs to go home, your soul needs it much more.
The soul is the real you. It’s who you are on the inside. It’s where you think, feel, and decide. According to Psalm 103.1, it is “all that is within me.”
Jesus offers a home where the weary and burdened can find rest. Rest from the anger that constantly boils to the surface.
Rest from the fear that paralyzes you. Rest from the depression you can’t seem to dig out of. Rest from the worry and anxiety keeping you awake at night and tying your stomach in knots during the day.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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 (Matthew 11.28-29).
Rest for our souls. Whether we recognize it or not, it’s rest the “inside you” longs for. Maybe the reason we feel restless on the inside — maybe the reason we don’t feel any emotional stability — is because our souls haven’t been “home” in a long time.
We don’t recognize our need. Maybe it’s because we’ve numbed it down with work or activities or relationships or alcohol or drugs.
Maybe we’ve tried to keep everything on the surface as we hide behind a mask. How often when asked “How are you?” do we flippantly say something like, “Good! Couldn’t be better!” We say it even though we’re dying inside.
But has anyone ever tried to get deeper? They see you’re not good, fine, or great written all over your face. So they ask again, “How are you, really? Are you ok? How’s your soul?”
I hope you have someone in your life who will ask you those deeper questions. And I hope you’re the person who asks those questions of those closest to you.
Why do we neglect the real us, the inside us? Why do we try to pretend that we’re okay and everything is rosy? Many of us pay lots of attention to the health of our bodies. We exercise, eat and drink right, lift weights, and walk or jog. We take vitamins and get regular check-ups.
But we rarely pay any attention to the health of our souls. They get less attention than finances, family, career, relationships, and retirement.
The real you on the inside craves rest. The rest Jesus said can only be found by coming to him. By coming home. How does our soul find home? David tells us in Psalm 103.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul! (Psalm 103. 1, 22).
When we begin to worship the God who is our peace, our joy, our hope, we come home. When we choose to bless and thank God in the middle of unwanted circumstances, we come home.
I’ve found when I’m going through tough times, and I choose to praise God, my problems may remain unchanged, but something happens inside me. I’m changed. I suddenly feel calmer and more confident. My soul finds rest.
When I sing praises to God, I feel more hope in my situation. A stability begins to settle upon my soul. It’s because I refocused my attention on the God who is bigger than my problem.
The God who can calm me down even when the storms continue to rage. It’s because I’m home. I’ve returned to that place where I’m safe and secure, whatever is happening outside.
Remember the time when Jesus dropped by Martha and Mary’s house? Martha was being a good host, while Mary sat near Jesus in the living room and listened while he talked.
Martha got upset because she had to do all the work by herself. When she complained to Jesus about Mary, he told her, “Martha, Martha. You are anxious and troubled about many things, but only one thing is necessary, and Mary has chosen it” (Luke 10.41-42).
What is the “it” Jesus referred to? Coming home. Giving your soul rest in the presence of Jesus. I can almost hear Jesus say to us: “Hey, you are anxious and troubled about so many things, but one thing is necessary.
Mary chose it. Will you?” Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened… and you will find rest for your souls. Why not take Jesus up on his offer? Come home.
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Steve Wilmot is a former Edgerton, Ohio area pastor who now seeks “to still bear fruit in old age” through writing. He is the author of seven books designed to assist believers to make steady progress on their spiritual journey.