Go ahead, just breathe...

Rest. What is it? How do I do it? I mean resting on the inside. Sad to say but recently I've realized that I've been driven, for most of my life, not by rest but by anxiety. I heard a pastor at church say that only when we rest in His provision, will we truly experience His power. That we must cease from our own ways and let Him have His way. This really hit me hard. It might seem like a duh! moment to some, but for me it was a huh? moment. How have I missed this? How many times do I pray and ask for help, provision, peace, answers...only to walk away and start obsessing again on what I need or want or don't have? So, I must ask the question, what does rest look like in my daily walk? How do I do that?

I was reminded of Philippians 1:6, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Okay, this alludes to the idea of rest...He began the work and He will continue the work until He completes the work. First sigh of relief. It is on Him. You mean I don't have to figure it all out, there is Someone bigger than me working on my behalf? Cool.

Then what in the world has been in my way, I must ask myself? Why all of the years of anxiety, fear and striving? Okay, there was some inching forward, some movement, some growth, of course. But it seems to me, that something very big, or very basic has been missing. This sent me to the Scriptures.
I looked up a dozen scriptures with the word rest in them, OT and NT and almost every single one had this in common, they spoke of what opposes rest. They talked of the Lord longing to give rest to His children but why He couldn't. Now, it occurs to me I have hit on a universal problem. I am not the lone wierdo in this story. 

Isaiah 28:12,

to whom he said,
    “This is the resting place, let the weary rest”;
and, “This is the place of repose”—
    but they would not listen.

v.15 for we have made a lie our refuge
    and falsehood our hiding place.”

Hebrews 11

So, as the Holy Spirit says:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
⁸     do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
    during the time of testing in the wilderness,
⁹ where your ancestors tested and tried me,
    though for forty years they saw what I did.
¹⁰ That is why I was angry with that generation;
    I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
    and they have not known my ways.’
¹¹ So I declared an oath in my anger,
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”

Hebrews 4
⁹ There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 

¹⁰ for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 

¹¹ Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience

Isaiah 30

v.15 This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:

“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
    in quietness and trust is your strength,
    but you would have none of it.

The common thread here is disobedience, going astray in our hearts and trusting in our own way versus His. Not resting in His promises, His truth, His provision, His ability. Instead thinking, "I've got this Lord", I'll come talk to you when I really need You. Um, no! Or, "I can't let go of this, this is my anchor, my reality, it's all I know to do, I am just protecting myself", and um, when I have it figured out, Lord...I'll have my quiet time. Excuse me? What part of rest don't I understand??? Hello, I think it's called trust. And that's been a tough one for me. But, let's get to the good part. In the first part of Isaiah 28, He says He IS my resting place, and if you read the rest of the chapter you will notice that the presence and power of Lord follow! That's what I'm talkin' about! Isaiah 30 says we are saved (from ourselves I  might add) through repentance and rest, and when my spirit is quiet, trusting and resting...then I am strong. 1Corinthians 1:24 refers to Christ this way: Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. So if I am in Christ, and He has imparted everything He has to me as co-heir, than I can rest in the fact that He, in me brings the wisdom and power of God to all of my circumstances. Maybe just maybe when I 'cease from my works' I will experience more of this...after all I do believe He promised us an abundant life. We all struggle with getting there and there is absolutely no shame in that. He wants to add to our abundance...He wants us to rest and experience His wisdom, presence and power. Take a look at the highlighted words in the verses above. Ask the Lord if any of those fit an area of your heart/life where you are not yet resting in Him. Ask Him to show you what rest looks like in that situation. Repent if there is a stubbornness or 'do it my way attitude'...and then get ready...for rivers of living water to flow!

<sup>Exodus 33

14</sup> The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”