So I’m writing all this at the tail end of the day. I’m not about to add to my backlog by holding off on today.
Though I’d like to think I had a good reason for my potential delinquency. I was up early this morning, to do what I needed to do each Monday: That is, to refill the water drums we maintain for the cleanliness of the front driveway, and then to refill drinkable water dispensers, plus our bath water jugs at the same time. After all this was done, I felt like going back to bed… and that’s where it all began. As I was just lazing around my eyes began to hurt – which was weird, because it wasn’t like I was coming off of a full-on video game binge which usually preceded this level of eye strain.
That’s pretty much what happened to me for the majority of the day. I was using ice pack after ice pack, to try to ‘hit’ the pain that was seemingly shifting from the front, back, and center of my head. It came to a point that it was so uncomfortable that I went as far as laying down on an exercise mat on the floor instead of on the bed – the mere heat that was generated in the bedsheets was already bothering me. Yeah, I was that restless.
Eventually I opted to take the last softgel capsule of ibuprofen, and that seemed to tide me over… up until now. Here’s to hoping it stays that way; I wouldn’t wish that sort of pain on anyone – it wasn’t so much the degree of the pain, more than it was just… wow, the whole prospect of the pain leaving me restless. That right there was what pissed me off about the entire ordeal. Another day with nothing accomplished.
But I don’t know, I guess my head was speaking for the rest of my body, to rest. I was probably on edge for the past couple of weeks, that though yes, I was sleeping, I don’t think I ever found any time to really just rest. It’s funny, because that’s been my whole deal for the past couple of days, hasn’t it? I’ve been talking about how Christ is our Bread of Life, who is our satisfaction. It’s not too far from me talking about casting our burdens upon Him, not too far from me talking about how we can go to Christ, and He would give us rest.
I guess I haven’t been taking a shot of my own medicine. I guess I haven’t been walking my talk – and with that said, I guess I haven’t been resting.
No, I’ll admit I’ve changed in the recent weeks, and it’s not all for the better. I’ve caught myself a little more than I would want to, looking for stimulation in even the shortest of idle moments. Let me explain: I’ve been looking for the right YouTube video to watch, while waiting for the water to be refilled – and sure, that may sound quite reasonable, but it gets a whole lot worse; like, looking for the right YouTube video to play even in moments which don’t last more than a minute – like, say, putting my shoes on. It’s unreasonable, and it isn’t very effective.
Stimulation has apparently taken the place of rest in my list of priorities, and that’s probably why my tummy hurts, and probably why I get those episodes of headaches. Times like these I remember the first movie in the Jason Bourne franchise, where our protagonist speaks to the ‘Professor’, a fellow Treadstone assassin sent out to kill him. In his labored breathing, the Professor asks Jason, ‘Do you still get the headaches? Because I do.”
I may be wrong, and correct me if I am, but I’m led to thinking that too much stimulation, to the point that much rest is overlapped, can lead to pain popping up in the head and in the belly. Stimulation turns to stress, and that stress, if left unchecked, turns into pain.
Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you;
He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.
We read it first in Psalm 55:22 – we don’t turn to stimulation to overlap any stress that we do feel; I’m led to thinking that any stimulation would only amplify the stress, or whatever does lie beneath. No, instead of covering the stress I am reminded that we need to cast all of it to Christ. Now sure, this was written by a Psalmist, but Christ follows up in His days here with us, with the following words:
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28
See here, in our mere going to Christ, He will give us rest. Long as we can trust in Him, we know that it is the absolute Truth that we will find rest in Him, and in Him alone. And as we understand how He gives us rest, so we are able to help other people, not merely by influencing them on how we rest, but leading them to the One who does give true rest – no less than Jesus Christ Himself.
You see what I did there? We love as Christ as loved us. We forgive as Christ forgave us. And, apparently we project rest, just as Christ has given us rest – He became our literal rest. It is as the famous old Hillsong line went: “Find rest my soul, in Christ alone; Know His power in quietness and trust.”
I found it hard to stay still in spite of the pain, hours ago. But as soon as I felt soothed, possibly by the ibuprofen, I was able to finally relax, and get a good nap in. It was after this particular nap in the late afternoon that I felt a little better.
I guess the theme for this week is centered on rest – not necessarily idleness or relaxation, but its superiority over stimulation.
May we all find rest in Christ as this week progresses.
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
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