There is a key element to resting in the Lord that tends to make all the difference between truly resting in the Lord and just taking a break. That component is reliance on God. What does it really mean to rely on God? I have struggled with this for quite some time. My general feeling on it has been that relying on God would mean that I have some sort of defect or that I am incapable of living this life on my own. Well, to be quite honest, it isn’t really a defect, it is the way we were created. We are indeed incapable of doing this on our own. We were created to rely on our Holy God. We all have a God shaped hole in our lives. Some of us fill it with work, friends, hobbies, food, drinks, exercise, busyness, etc…, but the main thing to understand here is that we all do it. If we aren’t relying on God we are relying on other things to be our “god.” It’s all a matter of where the heart is.
Like a child who is too small to care for itself, we are in a way the same as that child. Now, we are not helpless or mindless robots, but we are all at a point where we do rely on something or someone to help us. God created me and you to rely upon Him like a child relies on his/her parents to provide. A child relies on a parent to sustain them, shelter, protect, and guide, but mostly a child puts their trust in the parent/parents. God is our sustainer. When Jesus was preparing for his death he promised his followers the Holy Spirit.
John 15:14-21 "If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
Jesus promises the Holy Spirit will come. The Lord will not leave His children as orphans. This is evidence of God’s protection, of His guidance. The Lord has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. Joshua 1:5b “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” In His promises we can rely. We can fully depend on Him to be there for us. In our time of weariness, in the times we need rest, the Lord is there. Always remember that.
One thing we must also keep in mind is that to rely on the Lord is to rest, not on our own abilities, but on His. God is more than able and capable to help you through life so rely on Him to do so. Relying on God is also trusting that while you are at resting in Him, and the world is moving around you, that He will put you back in the race at the right moment. Proverbs 29:25 “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.” Do not fear or doubt when you are resting in the Lord. It is at that moment that He is doing a work in you. It is in these times of fear that we try to take the reins, take control. And it is in those times when we seriously need to be relying in Him. Trust that He will keep His word and He will keep you safe. If you want to find your purpose you have to trust that the Lord will indeed keep you safe. We must rely that God will provide a path and will direct our footing. Let Him be your guide.
Relying on the Lord is also relying in your position in Christ. Admittedly, if you are relying on God there is probably a good chance you are a Christ follower. If not, then let me please ask that you consider your roll in His kingdom. He desires you; He wants to be the Lord of your life. He loves you enough that Christ made the ultimate sacrifice and paid for our sins upon that cross, to a point of death. Understand that this is the perspective from which I speak. If you don’t know Christ as your savior, let me encourage you to do just that. As was mentioned before, there is a God-shaped hole in our life and we can choose to either fill it with Him or with idols. Let me encourage you to pursue the former. And now back to the subject at hand. When you rely in your position in Christ, you realize that it isn’t your own ability to achieve greatness. It isn’t going to be anything you can do to find your purpose. The Lord will have to guide you, and you have to trust in Him to do so. Rely on the Lord to put your life in sync with His Word. How do you do this? Well, I am glad you asked. 1 Thes. 5:16-18 “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” There is an element of faith, of reliance upon God in these words. When times are rough, when the storms of life hit us, we must still be joyful, commit to prayer, and be thankful at all time. Is it hard to do when we feel like the world is moving by us and we are sitting still? It sure is, but rely on the Lord. Is it hard to do that when you are in the midst of a personal crisis? It sure is, but rely on God. He is good. Let me repeat that, He is GOOD!! God will never leave you nor forsake you. If you want to find your purpose and you want to be able to rest in Him then you need to rely on the Lord. Thank God that He is more than able. Knowing that gives me peace that is indescribable.
Showing posts with label reliance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reliance. Show all posts
Friday, March 27, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Finding Our Purpose: Resting in Him pt. 4
True rest does not equal sleep. Let me repeat that, true rest does not equal sleep. Sleep does not equal true rest. Both CAN be the same, but are completely independent of each other. The definition of sleep is “to take the rest afforded by a suspension of voluntary bodily functions and the natural suspension, complete or partial, of consciousness; cease being awake.” The difference between sleep and true rest is that sleep comes when the body needs to suspend “voluntary bodily functions…” whereas rest comes when you need a break, when it’s time to get your wits about you. Sleep is when the body can no longer maintain consciousness. I can tell you this, however, that there have been many times where I have needed the rest and sleep and yet when I woke up in the morning, I was still tired. This comes from a lack of rest while sleeping. Typically, at least for me, it comes from my mind and/or my spirit not being truly at rest. In fact I have found that many times those who sleep the most wake up and still need more rest. It is due to the busy nature of the individual and the lack of rest the person gets. I can put myself into this category many, many times. Sleeping is when the body can no longer "go." It is a physical reaction to being tired. Resting in the Lord is a spiritual reaction to a holy God. While sleeping takes faith in that you need to trust Him to keep you safe while you sleep, resting requires a stronger and more active faith in that you have to trust Him while you wait on Him.
You see, true rest and sleep are not the same. We all need sleep for our physical bodies to carry on, but we need rest for so much more. One of the largest acts of faith we can do is to rest. When we rest we trust that in that time of rest God will provide. It means while we aren't going going going, we trust that God is doing doing doing. Rest requires patience. While you sit still, things happen around you. It's then in that time that God will allow you to depend on Him for clarity and vision. I am not a NASCAR fan, but I do know that when a driver’s car is getting worn down, whether it’s fluids or tires, etc…, the driver has to make a pit stop. Does performing a pit stop keep the driver from winning the race? No, it doesn’t. In fact, it is typically the driver who makes the prudent pit stops along the race who wins. Many times we think that we cannot afford the rest because the world will pass us by, and that simply isn’t true. When running the race of life, we have to make the necessary stops for rest or we will burn out and cease to finish the race. Rest allows you to continue. True rest in the Lord allows you to continue forward in discovering and achieving His purpose for your life. It begins with rest and rest will be required along the journey as well.
Hebrews 4:1-13
Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,
"So I declared on oath in my anger,
'They shall never enter my rest.'" And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “And on the seventh day God rested from all his work." And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest."
It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts." For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
We can see in the above text that rest is important. There is no better day to rest than “Today” so don’t let it slip by. Rest, as described above, is an act of trust in the Lord, is an act of patience, an act of obedience, and an act of reliance upon God. As was referenced in an earlier blog, Jesus slept on the boat as he and the disciples crossed the lake. Was he tired, yes, but his ability to sleep wasn't just because he was tired, it was due to his reliance on God to provide. Jesus wasn’t just sleeping because he was tired; he was sleeping because he knew that God was in charge and that the boat would make it to the other side. He relied on the Lord. The storm that had surrounded them was not a concern to Jesus. He simply relied on the Lord. See Mark 4:35-41. You see resting in the Lord requires something...reliance upon Him to sustain us. We have to trust that the Lord is good and is who He claims to be. If you have doubts in His goodness, or doubts that He is who He says He is, then you just won’t be able to do this, but if you truly realize that He has plans for you and that He wants you to prosper then resting in Him may come easier.
Jeremiah 29:11-13
“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
God has plans for you and He wants you to achieve all He has purposed for you, but when you are constantly moving, constantly going you can’t see His plans. Rest is required to see his plans for us. We can push ourselves so hard that the only reaction our body can muster up is sleep, but that isn’t what we need to do. We need to sit back and rest at times. If that means sleep, then by all means, sleep, but there are times when we have to sit back and sit still. It is in those times of rest that God can truly do a work in us. To rest in the Lord we must rely on Him. This is a key cog in finding one's purpose. Stay tuned for the next blog entry: Finding Your Purpose: Relying on the Lord.
You see, true rest and sleep are not the same. We all need sleep for our physical bodies to carry on, but we need rest for so much more. One of the largest acts of faith we can do is to rest. When we rest we trust that in that time of rest God will provide. It means while we aren't going going going, we trust that God is doing doing doing. Rest requires patience. While you sit still, things happen around you. It's then in that time that God will allow you to depend on Him for clarity and vision. I am not a NASCAR fan, but I do know that when a driver’s car is getting worn down, whether it’s fluids or tires, etc…, the driver has to make a pit stop. Does performing a pit stop keep the driver from winning the race? No, it doesn’t. In fact, it is typically the driver who makes the prudent pit stops along the race who wins. Many times we think that we cannot afford the rest because the world will pass us by, and that simply isn’t true. When running the race of life, we have to make the necessary stops for rest or we will burn out and cease to finish the race. Rest allows you to continue. True rest in the Lord allows you to continue forward in discovering and achieving His purpose for your life. It begins with rest and rest will be required along the journey as well.
Hebrews 4:1-13
Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,
"So I declared on oath in my anger,
'They shall never enter my rest.'" And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “And on the seventh day God rested from all his work." And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest."
It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts." For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
We can see in the above text that rest is important. There is no better day to rest than “Today” so don’t let it slip by. Rest, as described above, is an act of trust in the Lord, is an act of patience, an act of obedience, and an act of reliance upon God. As was referenced in an earlier blog, Jesus slept on the boat as he and the disciples crossed the lake. Was he tired, yes, but his ability to sleep wasn't just because he was tired, it was due to his reliance on God to provide. Jesus wasn’t just sleeping because he was tired; he was sleeping because he knew that God was in charge and that the boat would make it to the other side. He relied on the Lord. The storm that had surrounded them was not a concern to Jesus. He simply relied on the Lord. See Mark 4:35-41. You see resting in the Lord requires something...reliance upon Him to sustain us. We have to trust that the Lord is good and is who He claims to be. If you have doubts in His goodness, or doubts that He is who He says He is, then you just won’t be able to do this, but if you truly realize that He has plans for you and that He wants you to prosper then resting in Him may come easier.
Jeremiah 29:11-13
“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
God has plans for you and He wants you to achieve all He has purposed for you, but when you are constantly moving, constantly going you can’t see His plans. Rest is required to see his plans for us. We can push ourselves so hard that the only reaction our body can muster up is sleep, but that isn’t what we need to do. We need to sit back and rest at times. If that means sleep, then by all means, sleep, but there are times when we have to sit back and sit still. It is in those times of rest that God can truly do a work in us. To rest in the Lord we must rely on Him. This is a key cog in finding one's purpose. Stay tuned for the next blog entry: Finding Your Purpose: Relying on the Lord.
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