I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say...
“I heard the voice of Jesus say
Come unto me and rest
Lay down, oh weary one, lay down
Thy head upon my breast
I came to Jesus as I was,
So weary worn and sad,
I found in him a resting place
And he has made me glad”
Have you ever had a feeling like you were missing something, or something was just a little out of place? Not a terrible feeling, or a major stress, but a kind inclination in your heart that there just might be something more you were supposed to do, or that you needed a slight change in direction?
I have been feeling that “itch” lately. Everything is going very well–Thank God! But I have been feeling a bit directionless, particularly at work. I am probably like so many Americans who are pondering this new hot topic of “The Great Resignation,” which occurred when over 47 million people quit their jobs in 2021. But this “itch” could also be linked to my age, and current season of life. I am blessed to be able to say that in my mid-40’s, I have basically accomplished all of my goals, and I have acquired basically everything I wanted. Sure, I would like more vacations, but who doesn’t? But now that all of the monumental goals have been achieved, I have a lingering feeling of, “What now”? So, I recently decided to let my prayer be, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.”
The biblical book of 1 Samuel,Chapter 3, describes how the young Samuel heard a voice calling him in the middle of the night.
Thinking it was his teacher Eli calling him to do something, he got out of bed and went to his teacher, saying “Here I am. You called me”. However, the teacher had not called Samuel. After the third time of being woken in the middle of the night, the teacher Eli, realized that it must be the voice of God calling to Samuel. He instructed the boy, “Go back to bed. If you hear the voice again, say, ‘Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” And so the boy went back to bed. The voice of God called to Samuel again! So he answered, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” From that night on, Samuel became one of the greatest prophets in the history of the Jewish people.
Since this simple prayer worked well for the prophet Samuel, I thought I would pray it every time I go to church until some idea about my “itch” could come and inspire me. Today, I believe I heard the inspiration for which I have been praying in the old Kingsford hymn, “I heard the voice of Jesus say.”
“I heard the voice of Jesus say
Come unto me and rest
Lay down, oh weary one, lay down
Thy head upon my breast
I came to Jesus as I was,
So weary worn and sad,
I found in him a resting place
And he has made me glad”
These song lyrics, written by the Scottish minister Horatius Bonar, were not the great inspiration for which I was looking. I wanted guidance on my next big goal; some monumental thing that I could achieve. But clearly, that is not what the voice is saying in this song: “Come unto me and rest.” The guidance in this song is, “lay down, weary one, lay down”. And if I were really honest with myself, that is exactly what I needed to hear.
How many of us run around all day as “human doings” rather than human beings? I confess that I have spent the past twenty years or so as a “human doing”. That is why the answer to my prayer, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening,” is truly prophetic at this point in my life. “Come unto me and rest,” are the exact words that I needed to hear from the voice of Jesus.