Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

While he was speaking to me, I was in a deep sleep, with my face to the ground.  Then he touched me and raised me to my feet.

• Daniel 8:18

The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

• Exodus 33:14

“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.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

• Matthew 11:28-40

I have been writing about philosophy lately and this bit of writing is far from philosophical, but maybe metaphysical.  Wait a minute!  Isn’t metaphysics a branch of philosophy?  Sure, but maybe I am not thinking clearly today.

We have returned from our vacation, but on the drive down to Tennessee, I had only two hours of good sleep out of the six that I tried to get.  I broke down and drank a caffeinated drink for the first time in over 20 years and I stayed awake to do all the driving.  The first night there, something awakened me that kept me up, even less sleep.  But then I got a good night’s sleep the next night, almost too good.  I was determined to write the post on Gottfried Leibniz, scheduling such things ahead of the date.  I sat on my son’s new sectional couch, and I absorbed a few pages of small print, but then I awoke two hours later not remembering a thing I had read.

My daughter-in-law asked if my afternoon studying had been fruitful.  I told her that it had been very fruitful, for I had learned that Leibniz puts me to sleep.  Maybe I would use that as a post title.

But as I thought more on the subject, I realized that Jesus promises us that He will give us rest.  Then again, Jesus was quoting Old Testament Scripture, as usual.  Moses, to be alone with God, would take a tent outside the Israelite encampment and pitch the tent, to be alone with God.  Moses called it his “tent of meeting.”

In this tent, God promises to give Moses rest.  Then millennia later, Jesus promises us that He will give us rest, and that our burden is light.

At that point of exhaustion, even after a great night’s sleep, I still needed rest.  Because I was with grandchildren and my vacation time was limited with them, I did not want to stop.  Yet, I had placed too much on my yoke, and God saw to it that I got the rest I needed.

You see, even when I am not talking about philosophy, I am talking about philosophy.  It is metaphysical to be discussing things like existence, substance, identity, time, and space.  God let me know that I am not in charge, and He is.  He let me know that although I wanted more control of the time that I had, He knew better than I did regarding the amount of rest that I needed.

The next day, I easily researched Leibniz and wrote the post, but the key to that one-day delay in getting that work done was that God taught me that He has my best interest at heart.

Sanctification happens one step at a time, and we need to learn that it is God taking those steps.  We must be willing to let Him do it, but as we submit to Him, He gives us the small baby step lessons, as much as we can handle each time.

I now know that God can override my schedule, for my own good, and I am happy that He did so.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.