#49 The Cool Side of the Pillow

Matthew 11:28 NASB "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”

Sleep is something that we all need and often times it is something that eludes us. Maybe it is working too late to complete a project or perhaps we have troubled thoughts that make going to sleep difficult. Whatever the cause of missing sleep, there is no question that once we do get to bed and lie down to take sweet rest it can be an amazing feeling to simply cease striving through this life and let it all fade away into blissful rest. I am the type of person that cannot rest well if I am hot and sweaty. I like it cool when I sleep. I just rest better for some reason. There have been times when I sleep that I wake up feeling too hot and what I always do is flip my pillow. When the pillow is flipped over it brings the cool side up. Once I feel the cool side of the pillow I can then go back to sleep. Dreams seem sweeter on the cool side of the pillow. Life’s troubles seem to fade away as sleep takes me once again.

While resting on the cool side of the pillow is comforting and relaxing, eventually that side of the pillow acclimates to the temperature of the one lying on the pillow and that side of the pillow is then no longer cool. If our refuge from the troubles of this life can only slip away while we rest on the cool side of the pillow then our lives have no real foundation for dealing with stress and trouble. Much of the world does not even worry about seeking sleep to escape their troubles. Far too many turn to drugs, alcohol, immoral sexual behavior, gossiping, gambling, and any number of other destructive behaviors that take us further away from God: the only true source of comfort and help.

So what is the Christian to do? We must realize that when we come to Christ then our lives are not our own. The apostle Paul teaches us that we have been bought with a price (1 Cor 6:19-20). Jesus went to Calvary and purchased us with His blood. When we accept the sacrifice that He paid on our behalf then our well-being becomes His responsibility. Jesus taught us to seek the kingdom of God first in our lives (Matt. 6:33), and when we do all the other needs we have in life will be taken care of too. We, as Christ’s followers, must come to realize total dependence upon Him. He longs to help us in all aspects of our life. When we hurt, He hurts. When we cry, He cries with us. When we need rest, He stands ready to give us rest. In Christ, we have a refuge from the troubles of this life.

Friends, I want to challenge you today to take your cares of this life and drop them at the foot of the cross. Jesus desires that you leave the heavy lifting up to Him. Jesus desires that we allow Him to pave the way for us. We will all face challenges in this life, but when we live for Christ each moment can be like sleeping on the cool side of the pillow; blissfully peaceful and joyfully rewarding.

Dear Father God,

As we come to You just now we want to find rest from our troubled and weary lives. We want to learn how to trust Jesus to be our strength and our shield. We recognize that the rest we find in this life is temporal and will fade, but the rest that Jesus gives us will carry us through eternity. Give us the courage to surrender to Him just now that we may enjoy the rest He longs to give us. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.