“I’m going to tell you a story…at first it may sound ridiculous but the longer I talk the more rational its going to appear…”
Anyone know what movie that’s from? haha. I put that quote because I think it is fitting for what I’m about to share….
As we read the bible and learn the ways of God, we see a lot of things that would normally not ‘make sense’…. to be more specific, we see many opposites… for example – the first will be last and the last will be first, to be exalted you must be humble, to be rich you must become poor, to gain you must give, to lead you must follow, to live you must die… but the one I’m going to share about is that to get much done for the Lord you must REST…to some this may sound a bit ridiculous (see why I put the above quote?) but some of you will know what I’m talking about. There is different ways we can apply that need to rest. As I mentioned in the starting quote, I will tell you my story…
1. Rest during physical challenges
So in my last blog I mentioned some things I had gone through… the 30+ itchy bumps all over me, the dog bite, and the brown widow in my mask (this one was just weird). Though those are things that could have weighed me down and affect my physical work (my job), resting in God (trusting in His goodness and sovereignty and leaving it all to Him) got me through and I was able to work with the joy and peace of the Lord.
2. Rest in the midst of outer influences
This is one I think we ALL go through pretty often. I recently listened to a message by late pastor Chuck Smith and he was talking about burdens… how some people might say or think something like,”God has laid such a heavy burden on me…I don’t know if I can carry this…” But he was saying that in reality, often times burdens are put on us by other people or we put them upon ourselves! How sometimes we try and do something that we believe is of the Lord, and it’s not, and we lean on our own understanding and strength and it just becomes this heavy difficult task and we’re trying to do everything to make it work and we just end up getting burnt out and discouraged. He brought up Matthew 11:30 in which Jesus says “My yoke is EASY and my burden is LIGHT.” It is supposed to be a JOY to serve God and do His works, not a tiresome burden… I have to say, this message hit me pretty hard because there are plenty times where I take burdens upon myself without even thinking about it – whether it be one that someone places on me and I just quickly say yes, or maybe something that I THINK I should do (because ‘its the right thing’ or it’s ‘what I SHOULD do if I want to be a good Christian’ or it ‘seems like the right/best way to handle it’) when in reality it’s something that is done grudgingly or without consulting the Lord first and it wasn’t actually the Lord putting it on my heart or leading me to do that. The enemy disguises himself as an angel of light, and how close his voice can seem to sound like the Lord’s sometimes. But when we talk to God about it and apply wisdom and discernment, we can usually determine who’s really talking. Sometimes the enemy puts lies or certain thoughts in our heads. But we can rest in God’s word which is truth. Sometimes there are things that need to get done but I burden myself by sometimes thinking, “It has to get done NOW, or ASAP” and I miss out on so many things that could have been a blessing because I kept myself so busy with things that could wait. Which brings me to the next part…the rest of my current story…
So for about the last 3 weeks, I have working overtime every weekday (with the exception of maybe 1 day). My co-worker injured himself and has been out of the job for a while… and we don’t know how much longer it will be. It can be very tiring. It can affect me physically, mentally, and spiritually. In these cases I really need to lean on the Lord for strength and perseverance. But also because I have been working so much I have not been able to put much focus on getting things ready and preparing for this missions trip. I would say even more so when it comes to the fundraising. As I stated in the paragraph above, it would be easy for me to think,”Ahh what’s going on?! This stinks! I can’t do any of the things I need to.” But as I thought about it, I realized that… God is sovereign, He uses all things together for good, there is no way out of this – it’s out of my control, and maybe things are not falling apart but maybe they are somehow falling into place… well, He started speaking a lot about resting in Him… both why and I believe also what He’s going to do. It’s kind of like He is saying,”I’m allowing all these things lately because I’m strengthening your faith as you further learn to rest and trust during a storm” (because it may very well be necessary for the missions trip) but also,”You’ve been so distracted, I’m using this to help you get back to close fellowship with Me again. Don’t worry about the things and tasks needed for the trip, I will work those things out…just rest a while during this storm, for without Me you can not and will not be able to do anything.” (John 15:4-5) It seems like the verse of the month for me is Acts 1:8, and it I believe it is so VITAL in preparing for this trip! it says… “You shall receive power when the Holy spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” But before this, Jesus told them to WAIT. Such a great reminder that the most important thing is to spend time with Jesus and rest in Him before being able to do anything! It is only when we do this that people can look at us and see that “they were with Jesus….”
To do many works for the Lord, we must REST! 😀
It’s rational…. hahahaha.
