A Restful Soul

“The army in our country is certainly not a desirable profession for any young man who has ability and perseverance to succeed in any other… I shall make a strong effort to leave it. My children require more attention than I have ever yet been able to devote to them. Unless they give me some position which will enable me to bestow some care upon my family, I feel I shall be obliged to resign. A divided heart I have too long had, and a divided life too long led. That may be one cause of the small progress I have made on either hand.”

This depressing statement was made by an officer in the U.S. Army well over a century ago. He had refused out of principle to use political influence or self promotion to further his career or achieve a higher rank in the army. A graduate of West point, it had taken him over thirty years to rise above the rank of Captain, and he felt that he had wasted his life and his time in achieving that goal. Around the time he made the above statement in a letter to his brother, Congress had voted to cut military pay, so he added remorsefully, “I was never poorer in my life, and for the first time I have not been able to pay my debts.”

What do you do when you reach the top of the ladder and realize there is no where else for you to go? Or worse, what if you realize you were climbing the wrong ladder to begin with? Another ten or twelve hour day is not going to change things, yet we try because we think it might. Just one more job, one more check, a few dollars more, but in the end we find ourselves much like the officer I quoted above, wondering where we went wrong and what was it all for anyway. Life is sometimes very much like a lottery – success is never guaranteed and failure seems to be always hiding just behind the door, taunting us.

Jesus understood our struggles and the frailties associated with our goals in life. He warmly invites us to “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” I especially like the part where he mentions ‘rest unto your souls’ as that portion of this often-quoted verse is seldom mentioned. For your soul to achieve a place or state of rest is a very good thing indeed. It is something worth considering for all of us.

I believe we are to try and do our very best in everything we attempt in life and that includes our careers. However, it is important that we find the correct alignment between our jobs and our families, and most importantly by a well-defined choice not to neglect our spiritual life in our process of balancing both. When we get out of balance in any of those areas, we may feel lost and disoriented, and worse, life itself can lose meaning and purpose.

God has a plan and a purpose for our lives; we are not accidents of nature. Therefore we should make our choices based on His will and not our own. He can see down the road and we can’t. He knows what is coming, and by following His will we can be assured that we will be ready for whatever comes our way – the good as well as the bad. When things look uncertain and disappointment sets in, we can rest easy in our souls knowing that it will be better once His plan for us comes to fruition. Besides, He has already promised us that His burden is light compared to the ones we have been toting around for as long as we can remember.

Oh - that officer I quoted? He was none other than Robert E. Lee, one of the most famous Generals of all time. His works, exploits, and strategies are still studied by our military men and women today at West Point as well as in our War Colleges. You see, in the end, he didn’t give up and he didn’t resign. He found a way to balance his career with his family, and as they say, the rest is history. By the way, General Lee was also one of the most Spirit-led military commanders to be recorded in the annals of history. Through reading his letters to his family and friends this week, it became obvious to me that he understood the meaning of finding rest for his soul.

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