Good morning,
A special rest
When my family and I first went to the mission field in 1967, we were surprised to learn that we were going to be going to our field in Ethiopia, Africa, not on an ocean going boat, but instead on a brand new jet liner. Instead of weeks of travel, we got to our destination in two days. When we tried to call home for Christmas, we spent most of our time shouting,”Can you hear me”? Mail took weeks and months to get to us. That was all considered really fast and modern. Twenty five years later the people in the home office were beginning to become overwhelmed by e-mails from all over Africa that all had to be replied to in hours or days. Today we can now talk face to face with someone on the other side of the world on our computers as though we were sitting in the same room. Now we find ourselves overwhelmed with information on what’s happening thousands of miles away in minutes or hours after an event. The pace of life and an overwhelming amount of information, true or not, has filled our lives with all kinds of pressures that leave us stressed and fear driven as never before in the history of our world. Our collapsing cultures, world wide, are making the idea of rest and security a distant dream for most of the people around us. Sadly, the churches we go to, are often filled with people who are dealing with life just like the people all around us.
What is it that keeps the people of God anywhere in the world from living lives that are marked by peace and rest? It’s a problem that comes from our sin nature and the pressures of a rebellious world that demands control of the world around us. In Hebrews we read, So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God's rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world.(Heb.4:9,10) What the God of the Bible has always wanted for those who have trusted him is that we live our lives based on the foundation of his loving power and control of everything around us. Will life be hard for us? Of course. Are the difficult pressures and our sinful nature known to God? Yes. Is He still in control? Absolutely! What does it mean that we enter his rest? So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.(v.11) What God longs for is that we obey his loving directions. If we insist on doing things our way or the way that everyone around us is living, we will fall into the enemy’s control and God’s punishment. What does God say in Proverbs 3: 5,6? Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. We often forget to read and believe the next verse as well, Don't be impressed with your own wisdom.
Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil. There are two other verses that have helped me as I have prayed for God’s peace and rest. Isaiah 26: 12,13. God’s Holy Spirit is the one who is using us to know and do God’s will. It’s not ours to claim. There are lots of pressures that we face every day but, you alone are the one we worship. Thanks Lord for your gifts of rest and peace when we obey you day by day.
Isaiah 26:12 LORD, you will grant us peace; all we have accomplished is really from you. 13 O LORD our God, others have ruled us, but you alone are the one we worship.
Roy Wisner
