31 Days: Learning to rest through trust

A couple of nights ago I took out my earrings before going to bed. Actually I took out one earring, because I suddenly discovered that the other one was lost.

I know losing an earring is hardly an earth-shattering event, but these were (are) my favourite earrings. I’ve worn them almost every day since I bought them on a holiday in New Zealand two years ago. I love those earrings, so I was dismayed to discover that one was missing.

At the same time I realised that there was a choice to make. I could turn the house upside down looking for the missing earring, and spend a lot of energy fretting over it.

Or, I could choose another path. Much as I love them, they are only earrings after all. So I prayed that if it was possible for the lost earring to be found that the Lord would bring it to my attention so that I would see it. That’s all. And I left it in his hands, trusting him for the outcome. Whether the earring was found or not, it would be okay.

This evening as I got into my car after work I happened to look down and see the lost earring on the floor beneath the steering wheel. Thank you Lord.

Yes, a lost earring is no big deal but in it was an opportunity for me to choose rest through trust. An internal rest, a way of being in relationship with God. And if I can rest in him with the little things then I can learn to rest in him with the big things of life too.

Lost then found. This is the Good News that goes deeper every time we dare to live out who God made us to be in this world. Walking by faith. Placing our trust in him.

Bonnie Gray, Finding Spiritual Whitespace: awakening your soul to rest

This is Day 15 of The Rhythm of Rest series (Write 31 Days challenge).

How to find rest in an unlikely place

Over the weekend I sat in my favourite bakery, with a hot chocolate, a warm cherry danish and my journal. I breathed, I wrote and I listened. I took a scenic drive through hills, my soul taking a fresh breath as I took in the green folds, the rocky outcrops, gum trees, cattle and sheep, all bathed in the gentle winter sunshine.

It felt good, refreshing.

But now it’s another working week and the cares of daily life, the routines and commitments, are all crowding in, clamouring for attention.

How do I find spiritual whitespace now?

Another day, another wait at the bus stop. It’s cold, and everyone is standing silently, some tapping away on their smart phones, others with wired up and listening to their favourite music.

Across the road I see a tall tree, almost bare, lit by early sunlight. The last red leaves of autumn cling stubbornly to its naked branches.

There’s movement, and soon I spot one, then two or three more birds, their chests a pinky red.

They bob and flit around the tree, before disappearing in a flurry of wings and chirping. They remind me of children just let out of school.

And just as I think there’s nothing else to see, I notice more birds hopping around on the ground below. And sparrows skim the air low and then rise above the rooflines. I wonder how I thought it was silent as I begin to hear all the different birdsongs. In the distance, a rooster crows Good Morning.

And suddenly it seems almost magestic, this moment for my soul to breathe.

This gift of spiritual whitespace.

This gift of rest.

Finding a fellow-traveller for the journey

It could be coincidence, but I think not.

The same week that I wrote about not having all the answers, burnout, and being a fellow-traveller on the journey to flourish, I found another fellow-traveller in an unexpected place.

Between the pages of a book I found someone who is also looking for fellow-travellers on the journey to create space and find rest. Not just lay-your-head-on-a-pillow rest, but deep spiritual rest, spiritual whitespace.

I’m in the process of reading Bonnie Gray’s book Finding Spiritual Whitespace: awakening your soul to rest and already I’m encouraged to see rest as something deeper and more profound than I’d previously considered it.

Here’s just one of many quotes I’d like to share:

Making room for spiritual whitespace takes us on a journey to awaken our hearts to God again.

Sounds more than good to me.

The photograph on this post is of those wetlands I was longing for the other day. Yes, I found some space and it was very good.

How do you feel about finding spiritual whitespace and rest?

You can find out more about Bonnie, her story and her book at www.faithbarista.com.