“For the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the covering so narrow that one cannot wrap himself in it.” Isaiah 28:20

Narrow Coverings

My husband is a blanket hog. Before he gets into bed each night, he folds back the sheet and blanket together on his side of the bed. The covers end up around his knees, and since he gets too warm while he sleeps, the covers stay around his knees until the wee hours.

I, on the other hand, like to start with the sheet and blanket all the way up to my neck. The only folded part is the bit of sheet at the top which folds over the uppermost edge of the neatly smoothed blanket. This creates a problem. After he folds back his side, I can’t pull up my side because it is all turned back together.

At the risk of stating the obvious, you may wonder why I have not purchased king-size blankets for our queen-size bed. But no, I am frugal to the core. Our current blanket is still in good shape, and it will remain on our bed until it is tattered.

God makes it clear in Isaiah 28:12 and other Scriptures that He has prepared “a rest” for us. “This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest… This is the refreshing…” (28:12). In Matthew 11:28, Jesus invites us to give up our weariness, and enter His rest.

From experience, I know that a short bed or a narrow covering does not lead to good rest. God’s point, of course, is not about short beds or narrow covers. As today’s section of Scripture shows us, He points out that when we “cover” ourselves with human wisdom and do not ask advice of Him nor trust in Him to be our refuge, we will not enter His refreshing rest.

He wants to do so much for us. He has worked out all kinds of ways to bless us—not the least of which is offering us rest while He works. Our ideas about how to fix everything—our reliance on our own strength, creativity, initiative, and experience—is like being only partially covered by our blanket. We can do only small things on our own. Our own understanding just isn’t enough for this life. ALL the aspects of solving our problems and situations are fully covered by God. All the ins and outs, the ups and downs, the befores and afters, are all known by Him.

He’ll cover it.

Lord, we admit our bed is short and our covers are narrow. We desire to enter Your rest and refreshing. Help us “cover” the situations in our lives with prayer, then let You work. We will stand still and watch for Your sovereign hand to move. Amen.