I Had No Place to Rest My Head Tonight

A Short Reflection

Matthew 8:20
“And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’”

---

Tonight I’m writing from that thin place,
where tired meets reflection without asking.

I keep thinking about Jesus saying
He had nowhere to lay His head.

It wasn’t a turn of phrase.
It was simply true.

And it humbles me.

I live surrounded by comfort
and still feel worn down by inconvenience.
Jesus lived without guarantees—
no steady bed, no quiet corner—
and walked toward suffering already exhausted.

The realization arrived quietly.

A sick child pressed between my wife and me,
breathing heavy, claiming my side of the bed.
Dogs stretched across the couch,
sleeping like they’ve settled something important.

And me—
left with the floor
or an upright chair.

I could fix it.
Reclaim the space.
Wake him. Shift him. Choose myself.

But I don’t.

And that pause—
that small, unnecessary waiting—
is where the lesson settles.

Discomfort doesn’t earn righteousness.
Suffering doesn’t make me holy.
Love just chooses sometimes,
even when relief is close.

Jesus didn’t endure because He had to.
He endured because He loved.

He went to the cross already spent,
already weary,
already carrying more than any body should—
and He didn’t turn back to rest first.

So tonight, I sit here.
A little stiff and a little humbled.
Letting inconvenience remind me
how small my suffering really is.

And strangely,
that reminder feels like grace.

Because even when I’m exhausted,
I’m still resting in a world
He entered without a place to rest—
all so I could.

---