Rest

Enos 1

v. 27  And I soon go to the place of my ^arest, which is with my Redeemer; for I know that in him I shall ^brest. And I rejoice in the day when my ^cmortal shall put on ^dimmortality, and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the ^emansions of my Father. Amen.  

I love how this chapter ends.  The chapter begins with Enos's  "wrestle" which he had before God.  He prayed all day and into the night for forgiveness of his sins, and then he heard a voice that told him his sins were forgiven.  Then he continued to pray first for his own people, and then for his enemies. 

After this great experience, he spent the rest of his days laboring for the Lord.  And it wasn't easy.   The people were quick to do evil, hard-hearted.  It took a lot of work, a lot of preaching and testifying to keep them turned to God.  He must have been weary after so many years.  His rest was well-deserved.

I know what it means to yearn for rest.  My illness has taken rest away from me.  I never feel rested, not after many hours of sleep at night, not after my nap during the day.  I wake up unrested, I pass my days unrested, a constant weariness is in my bones.  This is the nature of the disease.  And so this verse speaks deeply to my heart.  Rest.  It is my greatest desire.

But through my suffering, I do find rest in my Savior.  Not a physical rest, but a spiritual and emotional rest.  I love reading the scriptures in the morning.  It lifts me from my morning fog, it helps me over the despair of facing another difficult day.  My burdens do not weigh so heavily upon me.  I am lighter.  I feel loved.  I feel encouraged.

There are many labors, many fights we must fight in this life.  I'm grateful for Enos's testimony of what is waiting for us at the end of it all, if we fight the good fight and stay true.