Emotional Rescue

“You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”          –  Psalm 16:11

As we pulled into the rental lake house, I laughed out loud when I saw the name of the house: Emotional Rescue. A blog post started stirring in my mind . . .

While Noah, Will and I are in Louisiana, visiting the Archer side of the family, we are renting a house on Lake St. John. The house belongs to Noah’s cousin who is a big Rolling Stones fan, thus the house is named after one of their songs. Since I’m not a Stones expert, I looked up the words to the song. Uh, no . . . the lyrics have nothing to do with the kind of rescue that I need.

The kind of rescue that I need is illustrated in my journal entry of July 27: “Lord, I’m so tired! I need to be rejuvenated. It’s not a tiredness of the physical – maybe a little. It’s tiredness of mind and spirit!”

Wow! Does Jesus know what you need or what? He even named a house for me!

I’m no different from anyone else. All of us get tired – physically, emotionally, and spiritually.   Family, work, hobbies – all good things but sometimes our lives are drained without any refueling.

I can so easily allow my emptiness to turn into a grand old pity party where I’m the only guest invited. Kindness, compassion, and joy are replaced by resentment, complaint, and grumpiness. I wrote a list of why I should feel drained for this blog entry and then there was the God whisper: “Trish, no one cares about your list. Everyone’s got a list of reasons why they feel drained. “

Yes, all of us can have our own pity parties. Everyone works harder than everyone else. Everyone has family issues. Everyone is more tired than everyone else.  Everyone _____________ (you fill in the blank).

For all of us, there is an answer.

Invite God to our pity party. Go ahead and get it out there. Admit our brokenness. But don’t wallow in it. What’s that saying? Misery loves company? I can’t make everyone around me miserable too!

Ask: what needs to change? What can change? Some things are beyond our control but what are the things that we do have the power to change?

Then look for ways to refresh, rejuvenate, and restore. We are blessed to be spending a week away in this lovely place (see picture) but Monday, it’s back to reality. What can I do to replenish when the phone starts ringing again, when the emails must be answered, when life comes back in full force?

I need a different rescue than the kind in the Rolling Stone song. I need the kind found in the song by Jared Anderson, “Rescue”:

You are the source of life; I can’t be left behind.

No one else will do; I will take hold of You,

‘Cause I need You, Jesus, to come to my rescue . . . *

Lord Jesus, may it be so.

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* © 2003 Integrity Worship Music

Special thanks to Buddy and Betty Paul for their restful place, Emotional Rescue.  We look forward to returning!