Rest Good…
Exodus 14:13-15 Amplified Bible (AMP)
13Moses told the people, Fear not; stand still (firm, confident, undismayed) and see the salvation of the Lord which He will work for you today. For the Egyptians you have seen today you shall never see again. 14The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace and remain at rest. 15The Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry to Me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward!
This morning I woke up early, after not being able to get to sleep until very late. As I was heading for the computer to write, I heard in my spirit go back to bed and rest. I know most of you are saying it was my flesh, and not my spirit, but if you knew me you would know it was definitely my spirit. As I climbed back in bed under the covers I closed my eyes thinking that I would wrestle to fall back to sleep instead I felt a draw to pray instead of sleep. I began to open up to God and cast ALL of my cares and concerns upon Him. I began to express all the things that had been keeping me up and weighing on my mind. I began to share with Him, what my concerns were for not just for myself but for many that are around me, even those who had hurt me and put me through, or misused my love and trust. As this prayer came to an end, I felt a peace wash over me that had been missing the last week, and I am not sure when but I feel back to sleep, when I woke up, I felt renewed, refreshed and as if God had spoken even though He did not say an audible word.
Often there are many things that will keep us from resting. Whether we are worrying, fearful, hurt, angry, even love and how to make things right for those we love can cause us to lose rest. No, I am not just talking about sleep, because rest is not just about sleep, it is about peace and it is about confidence, it is about trust and it is about allowing God to be just that God over ALL of our circumstance. Rest is about being aware of what may be going on in our lives and in the lives of those that we love, but not letting it worry us to the point it changes who we are, our disposition or our attitude towards God or others. My children say they can always tell when I am stressed, they say I run short, I get a little snappish. This has placed a check in me to try to be aware when I am allowing things to take over instead of remaining in God’s rest and counsel for me. Anyone who is an A type personality can relate to this, that when we feel things beyond our grasp and control, we get unbalanced and a bit off kilter, but when we are in control, God isn’t in control and we are at work that means God is at rest. One particular time when I was stressed about school and all the things I was juggling in my life, my mom in a very funny voice turned to me and said stress bad, rest good. I had to laugh, but she was right. Stress is bad, God reminds us in His word, “be anxious for NOTHING but everything with prayer and supplication letting your request be made known unto God.”
When we come to understand that our worry cannot change one event that is transpiring in our lives. Losing our rest and our ability to have relationship, who is that helping or benefitting, absolutely no one? God is our resting place; He is our hiding place when we need to get away from all that is unrestful. God is and always will be our present help in the times of trouble, relying on what we can do, will limit what God can do; relying on God will limit what we can do, but it gives us results when we cannot, and gives us peace that would otherwise be absent. When God becomes the focus of our lives or gains back our attention and we understand that He promised to supply ALL of our needs according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus, we can breathe again, we can rest again and regain the posture of peace that we may have let people, their actions, situations and circumstances take from us. Get back to rest so that you can move forward, not of your own might and power, but by the Spirit of God and His might, power and provision going before us! Remember stress, worry, and upset bad, rest GOOD!
No comments:
Post a Comment