God's rest

Augustine of Hippo expressed his inner world with a beautiful theological resolution worth taking into account: My soul has no rest until it rests in you. Could we Christians today say the same? There is no true rest and inner peace until the soul is pastured in the grace of the Lord and we assume that there is no better formula for spiritual well-being than to live peacefully in the arms of the Father, trusting in his Word, speaking to him in prayer.

One of the reasons why man does not find rest in the circumstances of daily life is because he does not have a reliable foundation to sustain himself. Man without God lives by juggling his own passions; one day good, another bad and the next worse. The life cycle of man without God is actually a cycle of death.

Among the many problems that the Christian must confront with himself today is that of shedding the feelings of guilt that he carries from the past, his frustrations and disappointments, the atrocities of the old nature that Christ crucified with himself on the cross, but struggles to get out. afloat to condemn the soul of the redeemed believer. Such feelings of guilt and frustration can be rooted in the Christian's intentional decision to hide his sins and not confess them to the only one who is just to forgive: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and cleanse us from all evil. " (1 Jn 1: 9).

God's rest is to know him more and more as we diligently struggle in the Christian life. In his prayer to the Father, Jesus said to him: “And this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (Jn 17.3).

Through the prophet Jeremiah God spoke in this way: But if anyone boasts, boast of this: “That he understands me and knows me, for I am the Lord who does mercy, justice and justice on earth, because in these things I am pleased, ”declares the Lord. (Jr 9.24).

In a postmodern and existentialist world, man lives without clear purposes and faces life doing his own will. Eternal values and divine precepts have no meaning. By questioning his own existence, he gets lost in the labyrinth of God-denying philosophies. They live for personal success, the result of their own efforts, believing they know themselves and trying to change the circumstances that are adverse to them in order to live freely, without subjection, without moralizing principles, without rules of conduct that help them cope with their already insubstantial existence. .

We have Christ; We knew him and through him the Father has been revealed to us in all his fullness, so that we have no excuses for not finding the rest that our soul needs in certain circumstances in which life does not seem to smile on us. The conflicts that we confront on a daily basis can be diluted and eliminated when we give the Lord the opportunity to govern each of the aspects of our life and we cede to the King the throne that from time to time we usurp when trying to exercise the control that is the exclusive right of he. If God invented life, isn't it better to let him control it? Why does man try to make it wise when facing life? Paul said to the Corinthians: “Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this time? Has not God turned the wisdom of this world into madness? " (1 Cor 1.20 NIV).

Let us live peacefully in the Lord. Knowing him brings confidence and peace to the heart. The world overflows with afflictions, but Jesus defeated him on the cross (Jn 16:33). Abiding in Christ, allowing him to be the center of our inner world, is the best guarantee to continue the race of faith in the certainty of his company. The soul - the mind, the will and the emotions - rests when we rest and place the burdens of everyday life on his eternal love and mercies. “Do not conform to today's world, but be transformed by renewing your mind. In this way they will be able to verify what the will of God is, good, agreeable and perfect ”(Ro 12.2)

God bless your Word!