Rest - October 23rd, 2008

I’ve been sitting here with Eliana on my chest for most of the past 2 hours spending time in prayer and the Word. Something hit me in a new way as I watched her this morning. Eliana is so peaceful and content but every so often she will wake up aggravated, grunting, squirming around and bumping her head into my shoulder. As I begin to speak gently to her, holding her tight she inevitably quiets down and returns to a gentle rest. As I’ve been watching this cycle for the past couple of hours I realized this is often exactly what I do with God. I can rest peacefully in His presence but so quickly become distracted by all the crazy things going on around me that I forget to simply enjoy Him. Heb.4:1-13 describes that rest and challenges me, in verse 11, to “make every effort to enter that rest.” Quite fittingly the very next verse (v.12) relates that rest to God’s living Word, my hope and security in the midst of difficult times and this upside down world (Heb.6:19). I think I often believe the lie that I can rest when and only when everything is put in order (and of course I’m responsible for putting it all in order). Jesus silenced that misconception, in Jn.16:33, promising me that even in the chaos all around I can have peace in Him as I am still in Him (Ps.46:10), casting all my anxieties on Him (1Pet.5:7), delighting myself in Him (Ps.37:4), drawing near to Him realizing that it is in that place that I experience His peace, the peace that surpasses understanding (Phil.4:6-7). When I am tempted to worry I can instead seek Him first (Mt.6:25-34) laying aside all that would distract, setting my eyes and attention solely on Him (Heb.12:1-2). I experience that peaceful rest as I abide in Him (Jn.15:1-8) and in fellowship with Him that rest is not lost.