The God of the Hammock

I've never been much of an outdoorsy person, but the other day God used nature to quietly whisper to me. Back on Mother's Day, I purchased and set up a hammock for my wife. We set it up down in front of our house a good ways away. It's nestled under a cluster of trees to shade the sun in the heat of the day and we tried to design it to be a little getaway from the noise of the house.

Hammocks are tricky little inventions, they take a bit of getting used to. It's a little awkward getting in and out of it. It forces you to trust that the ropes and the roots of the trees will hold all of your weight. Then once you get into it, it takes a little maneuvering to get comfortable, but once you get just right, the comfort and the gentle rocking is very relaxing.

So with all the stress and struggling of the last few weeks, I decided I would give it a try one Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago. I walked out there, checked to make sure it would hold me. Admittedly, I was a little nervous. It was a struggle for me to get into the hammock, I was worried whether it could hold my weight, I struggled to get comfortable. I put in my headphones and listened to some worship music and just as I did, the winds begin to pick up just a bit, and the hammock gently rocked back and forth as it lulled me to sleep. Life out there in that hammock was peaceful, it was perfect. That may have been the best Sunday afternoon nap I've ever had.

Walking back up to the house, I thought about life and my situation, and I realized how much my time spent with God was just like that Sunday afternoon hammock. How often we need to slip away from the noise of the house, out under the shade of His goodness. Sheltered from the rays of the heat of the day. Sometimes we may struggle to enter the hammock of His rest through prayer. We may worry whether or not He can handle the weight of our worries and cares, it takes complete faith to lay all of Your weight on Him. It may take us a few moments of uncomfortable stillness to experience that peace of His care for us.

Oh but once we do, the winds can blow all they want, they are but a gentle breeze that rocks us, as His Spirit sings over us a lullaby of His grace that beckons us into a deeper rest. For we have placed all of our weight and faith in the majestic trunks of His promises which are rooted deep into His character. We are held fast by the Spirit's grip and as the winds of change blow, we are gently rocked back and forth into His rest.

Brothers and sisters, there's a peace that awaits you, a hammock that calls you away from the noise of the house. Take the time necessary to find Your way away from the noise of the house to the hammock of Gods word, struggle to enter His rest through prayer, live in His peace in the midst of the heat of the day and the winds of life.

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." - Isaiah 26:3

#hammock #trust #rest