When Your Brain Won't Shut Off

"In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength."

— Isaiah 30:15 (NIV)

A woman visited a friend known for her sense of peace, hoping to learn her secret. She found her in the backyard, gently pushing a child on a swing.

As the child laughed, the woman noticed an old, rusty water pump nearby. Its handle was worn smooth with use. Her friend saw her looking and smiled. "That old thing still gives the coldest, sweetest water you'll ever taste," she said. "But you have to know the trick."

She explained that after a long drought, the pump's well needed to be primed. You had to pour a full pitcher of water down the spout to create the suction. Then, when you worked the handle, it would draw the deep, cool water up.

"Most people," the friend said, nodding toward the pump, "they just start frantically pumping the dry handle. They wear themselves out, get frustrated, and walk away convinced there's no water left. They're trying to force what only flow can provide."

The woman understood. She realized her own anxious thoughts were like pumping a dry handle, an exhausting effort that yielded nothing but fatigue. The "prime" she needed wasn't more effort, but a pitcher of stillness and trust poured into her soul first.

We are often told to "be strong," but God's definition of strength is found in quietness and trust. We exhaust ourselves trying to pump solutions out of our own strength, when true peace flows from the deep well of His presence. The struggle is a sign your spirit needs to be primed with rest.

HOW ABOUT YOU?

Do you find yourself mentally pumping a dry handle, trying to force solutions through worry instead of faith? That frantic feeling is an invitation to prime the well. God isn't waiting for you to figure it all out. His strength is offered in the moments you choose to stop striving and just sit in His presence. What if your primary job today wasn't to solve everything, but to receive His rest?

PRAYER:

Lord, when my mind is racing and my thoughts are a dry well, teach me to stop pumping. Show me how to prime my heart with Your presence instead. I trade my frantic striving for Your promised rest, and my worries for the strength that only You can give. Amen.