Resting in the LORD

Did you know that when the Bible prints the letters LORD it is on purpose and different from Lord?

Christians, as we read and study the Bible it is imperative that we stop and ask ourselves questions. If we just breeze through the words with little thought to differences, we will miss out on the deeper and intended meanings of Scripture.

Lord is the English translation for the Hebrew and Greek rendering of master, or one in authority over others. But LORD is God's name, YHWH (Yahweh), specifically noted as the God of the Israelites, the one true living God.

About three years ago now I was reading a devotional book and came across something that has changed my thinking forever. It was written to women, especially busy women who had all these life goals and dreams and suffered from anxiety over trying to achieve them or not seeing any progress in achieving them and how to cope and find REST in the Lord. I was enjoying it, but it hadn't quite seemed to provide any clear answers yet; it was mostly the author's personal story and journey. What I later realized was that she wanted you to see yourself in her own story. She wanted you to be eagerly searching and awaiting the answers. So then when she provided them with Scripture and her reflections on her Bible study, it was immensely satisfying!

Basically, she had done a word study for "rest" in the Bible. Sometimes, the word used for rest is the same word used for breath; sometimes it's the same word used for wind and the Holy Spirit (ruwach); and other times it was the same word used for lying down like in Psalm 23. She thought that was interesting and did some more digging.

Camels do not naturally lie down. Wild camels can sleep standing up. But according to historians, when humans started using camels for traveling--taking advantage of the camel's natural ability to carry heavy loads and walk long miles in the hot dessert with little food and water--they wanted to make sure they were not being cruel to the animals and provided them the proper opportunity to rest and be strengthened for the next portion of the journey. Therefore, these nomads had to train camels how to lie down and rest. In some cases, they even had to force them to lie down. It was not natural for them to do so, but in the wild they also weren't accustomed to carrying 200 extra pounds and walking consistently for 20+ miles per day. These nomads found that when their camels could rest lying down, it did in fact help them to rest and regain their strength better than if they had just left them to sleep standing up.

This knowledge not only astounded the author of the devotional book, but it also astounded me! I was already making the mental connections when she continued to explain (I'm paraphrasing):

• God is LORD. He is the one true God. He is Creator and Sustainer.

• God is Lord. Because He is the one true God, the Creator and Sustainer, He is the Master or Ruler over all, and He should be allowed to function as the Master of our lives. He will not force Himself, because then there can be no true love. But it is His right. We just have to choose to submit and follow Him as our Master. The camels had to submit to their masters, and only when they chose to do so and saw the benefits of what they were being forced to do, then the trust and love between master and camel was developed.

• God is Rest. Ok, this one took a little longer to piece together. If a lot of the Hebrew/Greek words in the Bible used for "rest" in English have to do with wind, breathing, the Holy Spirit, and lying down, I think it's clear that God wants us to associate resting with Him. If you dig a little deeper into the breathing aspect of rest, it has the connotation of breathing slowly and calmly, the opposite of one who is anxious and having a panic attack and breathing heavily. If you dig a little deeper into the wind and Holy Spirit aspect of rest, you'll find that it's giving the connotation of when the Holy Spirit moved along the face of the waters and all creation was good, at peace; or when God breathed life into Adam and all creation was good, at peace. Then add all that about the camels from history and you see how much God really cares about us. He has designed us to do great things just like the camel, and He wants to push us to do great things just like we push the camels; but He also loves us enough to teach us (and almost force us) to rest properly so that we have enough strength to do the great things again and again.

RESTING in the LORD is a beautiful thing. And it means so much more than what we think of today as "resting." It is more than having a day off to be lazy and do nothing. It is more than having a family vacation away from work. It is more than getting extra sleep or watching a movie. It can indeed mean those things, but it mostly means that we are not anxious because we are trusting that the LORD is indeed the Lord of our life. It means we are at peace with whatever circumstances come into our lives because we truly believe that God's got it. It means that sometimes, getting sick and having to stay home and sleep may actually be God forcing us to lie down and go through something unpleasant because we have not been wise and healthy with our time and energy. So we need to rest. Even Jesus needed to rest.

The physical and spiritual are so intertwined. The two are what make us a living being. Again, I go back to God in the Garden of Eden. When He made man out of the dust of the earth, he was not declared a living soul yet. It was not until God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. That word "breath" in the Hebrew is ruwach, a word also used in Scripture for the Holy Spirit and rest. We find our life, our rest, our peace, our comfort in the LORD.

Here is a written work I found on this subject, and I thought I'd share it word for word:

There was a moment when Moses had the nerve to ask God what his name is. God was gracious enough to answer, and the name he gave is recorded in the original Hebrew as YHWH.

Over time we’ve arbitrarily added an “a” and an “e” in there to get YaHWeH, presumably because we have a preference for vowels.

But scholars and Rabi’s have noted that the letters YHWH represent breathing sounds, or aspirated consonants. When pronounced without intervening vowels, it actually sounds like breathing.

YH (inhale): WH (exhale).

So a baby’s first cry, his first breath, speaks the name of God.

A deep sigh calls His name – or a groan or gasp that is too heavy for mere words.

Even an atheist would speak His name, unaware that their very breath is giving constant acknowledgment to God.

Likewise, a person leaves this earth with their last breath, when God’s name is no longer filing their lungs.

So when I can’t utter anything else, is my cry calling out His name?

Being alive means I speak His name constantly.

So, is it heard the loudest when I’m the quietest?

In sadness, we breathe heavy sighs.

In joy, our lungs feel almost like they will burst. In fear we hold our breath and have to be told to breathe slowly to help us calm down.

When we’re about to do something hard, we take a deep breath to find our courage.

When I think about it, breathing is giving him praise. Even in the hardest moments!

This is so beautiful and fills me with emotion every time I grasp the thought. God chose to give himself a name that we can’t help but speak every moment we’re alive.

All of us, always, everywhere.

Waking, sleeping, breathing, with the name of God on our lips.

❤️

written by - Sandra Thurman Caporale from the Memorial Church of Christ in Houston.

Graphic artist unknown.