Quiet Your Spirit. The engineer sounded his whistle long and LOUD at the little guy watching beside the tracks. It was loud. The ground rumbled under us as the black train engine roared past. I held Brayden’s hand to keep him safe, but I wanted to put both hands over my ears. Brayden loves trains. And I […]
Download Podcast This podcast is a combination of this post and the blog post entitled “Jesus Changed the Meaning of the Cross” If you are reading the post only and not listening then I want to encourage you to read both posts. Exchange your money! One of the first things you do when you […]
I was a proud mama when my daughter, Kimberly, graduated from Aveda Beauty Institute with the highest GPA in her class. Then her classmates bestowed another honor on her when they voted for her to speak at their graduation. Kimberly carefully prepared and practiced to hone her presentation. Ashlyn, her daughter, asked, “Are you nervous?” […]
This isn’t a Christmas post. This is not even a late Christmas post. Maybe it’s just my personality…maybe I’m trying to get the last little bit…like trying to squeeze the last little bit of toothpaste out of a totally flat tube. But I don’t want to leave the season without getting transparent with you one more time. […]
My garden is blooming in a rainbow of colors. Join me…I want to share with you what I saw and learned. Brown eyed Susans stand in rigid bouquets. Tiny white blooms cascade from the wheelbarrow that Wayne made me from leftover log siding. Yellow and fuchsia colored mums compete with pink and yellow roses are […]
Have you ever sincerely prayed, “Lord, your will be done.” and when God answered your prayer, you found yourself saying….nooooooooooo!I changed my mind. I find myself there now. Jason, my oldest has been job hunting. Time for a change. Time to move up the corporate ladder. He’s great at what he does. Awesome work […]
Sometimes we struggle to trust God. We want to trust God, but instead of trusting God we often react out of panic or fear. Sorta like a squirrel or a rabbit. Squirrels do it. Rabbits do it. But why do they do it? It was a dark foggy, moonless night in the mountains. The headlight […]
There have been many times that I’ve opened the drain in the bottom of the bathtub, then instructed one of my children to get out of the tub. Often I gathered them in my arms, wrapping them in a soft towel, while rubbing them dry and hugging them all at the same time. Sometimes they […]
They had already lost one game in the playoffs. He was 11 years old and just like every other kid there, he wanted to win the Little League World Series. But they were getting whooped bad! It was only the 4th ending and the other team was beating them by 20 points. This defeat would […]
Finally, I got my summer clothes out of the attic and into the dresser drawers only to realize summer is almost over. Where has the summer gone? School supplies wait on shelves for the get-back-to-school rush! That is the bell that says summer recess is over, get back to work! But summer is supposed to be the time for a resting vacation. Maybe your va-cation was a sta-cation that turned into a work-cation. What happened to the rest part?
By the way what is rest? It really looks different to each of us. Rest for my friend Pete is kayaking, which sounds like way too much work me! To me rest is a hammock, assuming I can get into the thing without landing on the ground a dozen times; a big hammock, swaying gently under a shade tree, in a quiet place, beside a stream, birds serenading me, complete with a great book and a tall glass of iced lemonade. Other favorite of mine are: quiet walks through canopied trails and along the seashore; or plopped in a chair on the porch watching sunsets in the mountains; or laughing with my grandchildren. In this mad-dash world that we live in today, it is difficult to find genuine rest. Have you discovered a place of rest?
Rest was God’s idea. Let’s take a look.
1. He established and commanded (not suggested) a day to rest.. (Exodus 20:11)
2. He provides a physical system for rest; sleep.
3. We can believe God for sweet sleep. Proverbs 3:24 KJV
4. We can sleep in peace so our emotions can rest. Psalm 4:8 KJV
5. God established a place of rest that can only be entered by faith and the obedience enabled by faith. (Hebrews 4:1-6) We walk by faith, live by faith and rest because we have faith. Faith in a God that never sleeps, never leaves us and watches over us tenderly.
6. Biblical refreshing…While all these points are vital and viable; there are numerous resources accessible to help you rest better. But often biblical refreshing is overlooked in our quest to rest.
In our quest to rest, we need to be careful that we do not miss the rest that is available in God’s presence. Acts 3:19 (KJV) “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out , when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” It is a place, just as real as your favorite physical location.
I’ve seen children, youth and adults experience that rest in corporate worship; scattered around the room, as they knelt, many laying their faces on the floor resting in the sweet peace of God’s presence.
I’ve moved into a quiet place of rest, in my private worship.
It’s not automatic! That place of refreshing that God has for us can be missed. Isaiah 28:12 “To whom He said, “This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest,” And, “This is the refreshing”; Yet they would not hear.”
Need a vacation? Hurry! Summer is almost over, but before you go, unpack your worries, leave them in God’s hands, and rest.
Matthew 11:28 KJV Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden , and I will give you rest.