Good morning, beloved. I hope this finds you all resting in the love of our glorious Father. We can go through anything, go anywhere, and love anyone, when we rest in all that He is.
I was reading Hebrews 4 this morning, and it seems that the difference between living in God’s rest and not living in God’s rest is belief. Do we believe that we can trust in all that God is, in His love for us and for all, that He is sovereign, in control of every single thing?
I have gone through things in my life that caused me untold amounts of stress, worry, and UNrest. I have struggled and lost sleep. I look back on those times and know that God was always with me, but I couldn’t grasp Who He was. Who He really was. I saw no end to the pitch dark tunnel. I was certain, like Murphy’s law, that whatever crap could happen, would most likely happen. I prayed. Maybe there was a slim chance that God would hear and help me, or help the one I loved, or fix the situation. Maybe. I’ll pray and cross my fingers and hope. Rest was not anywhere in the near vicinity or even on my horizon.
I look back now and see the hand of God in every single thing I ever went through. I see God upholding me, guiding me, keeping me. Even when I was fussing. It didn’t depend on my belief. God was there, always. In control, orchestrating, shaping, making, loving. Always.
And in looking back, and seeing God in my life, I have begun to believe. Each day my believing has become stronger. And the believing has made me realize that it does not make sense to worry or fume or lose sleep over the things that are completely in the control of the Creator of the Universe Who just happens to love us more than we could ever imagine. It just doesn’t make sense.
I am entering into His rest and it is so great, so wonderful. It would have been great to live in His rest back when I was going through all that crap when I was younger, but it wasn’t time. God was changing me through all those things, bringing me to the place where I would believe. Where I could and would enter into His rest.
In Mark, there is a story of a man who brought his very sick son to Jesus in hopes that Jesus would heal him. He said to Jesus, “if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.”
Jesus answered him, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”
The man responds with one of the most memorable verses in the New Testament. The man said, “I believe Lord. Help my unbelief.”
That is exactly what God had been doing for me, for us, in all the crazy things we have gone through. He is helping our unbelief. He has helped my unbelief by ALWAYS proving to me that He is faithful. Now, I am believing. And because I am believing, I am resting. Not always. Not every time. But more. More and more and more. I highly recommend it. It’s a wonderful place to be, God’s rest.
I love you all very much!
