Finding Rest in God Amid Life’s Transitions

When Transitions Take a Toll

Let me start with a disclaimer. I am naturally not good at resting. I am always thinking about the next thing that needs to be done. However, over years of church ministry work, I have been positively rebuked that I need not to idolise my work but to rest in Christ. Now, over the past couple of weeks, I have been thinking through transitions in my job. They were not happening in a big way, but I was going to let go of some of my responsibilities so I could spend a little more time studying. I never thought I would be affected by the change of routine, but I was. I remember taking a matatu home to go and see my parents and feeling a deep wave of sadness engulfing me. Mostly because I was leaving (to some extent) what I dearly love, and because I was anxious about what the future held. However, a friend warned me about this and pointed out that transitions (big or small) can take a toll on your well-being. So, I made a provision to just take time to rest. I planned to be out of town with my cousins for a short holiday. We originally planned to travel in October, but after rescheduling, we chose the first week of September. In hindsight, this timing worked perfectly for me. So, we drove off to Nanyuki (about a 4-hour drive away), spent about 4 days there and came back.

A Trip to Nanyuki

A few highlights to share. First, reconnecting with nature reminds us how wonderful God is as the Creator of the World. On one day during the holiday, we decided to visit an animal conservancy not too far from Nanyuki town. Nanyuki is generally warm temperature-wise. However, that day felt a bit chilly. The conservancy sits at the foot of Mt Kenya, with lots of trees and vegetation. As we drove through the first gate, we were greeted by this beautiful canopy of trees. We definitely observed a speed of 25km/h as the signages instructed. After a short drive, we reached the parking lot, then went to reception, where we paid our entry fee and continued on. We later went on through a small garden and into the animal orphanage.

Wonderfully Made: A God of Details

Now I must say, for a majority of us, our hearts dropped when we went through the small gate into the orphanage. The place did not look very promising. It seemed to have very few animals, and ones that would not be very fascinating to see. The monkeys, antelopes, ostriches…Anyway, as we got through the gate, a man came walking towards us, and from what he was wearing, we quickly knew that he would be our tour guide for the day. I must say, he made our walk through the orphanage a lot more exciting. He had a history about each animal and how they were rescued. He was so articulate and clearly knew his content so well that, by the end of the tour, I felt genuinely inspired to take our local tourism more seriously.

So he took us through the story of how each animal had been rescued and the different adaptations of the animals. I mentioned that at first, we were all disappointed when we arrived at the orphanage, but we got more excited when we found out it had the Big 5 animals (the rhino, the Leopard, the lion, and the Buffalo). They did not have the elephant, though. They also had various types of monkeys, the cheetah, hyena, antelopes, the oryx, the bongo, just to mention a few. My major fascination was with the various adaptations of these animals. For example, a cheetah is a poor climber. However, it can run about 110km/h (70mph). An Ostrich cannot fly, but it can run up to 60 km/h(45mph).The lion may be the king of the jungle, but do you know it can be killed by a porcupine?(Fun fact).Impalas can jump up to ten feet high, and their ground speed is up to 90km/h .

Resting in the Unknown

Now, this is not a science class.  My main point isn’t the animals’ adaptations, but to think about a God who is so big yet so mindful of the small details of these animals. This takes me back to these verses in the book of Matthew;

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[e]?

Matthew 6:25-27

A Prayer for Rest

There have been moments when I have been seriously worried. Will I have enough to get me through the day? Will I be able to pay my bills? Will I have enough money to get me through seminary school? What will my work look like in the next couple of years?  How about family? What is the Lord planning for this area of my life? Asking these questions still leaves me with no answers. It is in these moments that the Lord has reminded me to rest in Him. To know that He has a plan and that He will sustain me. Church ministry work has often put me in such moments of uncertainty, but the Lord has been gracious in giving me the strength to get through it all.

For now, as I think about rest, my prayer is that I will always be at peace that I may not understand everything yet, but the Lord has a plan. I need to trust that the Lord knows. He takes care of the animals, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea. Even now, He will support and provide. I therefore need not to worry myself. That means that I take rest as an act of faith. This is my desire, that my soul will find rest in the Lord . I hope this can be your prayer and resolve as David said in this Psalm;

Truly my soul finds rest in God;
    my salvation comes from him.
² Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

Psalms 62:1-2