REST

Psalm 91:1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Where do we get our energy? Oh, I could quickly answer that with my favorite drink: coffee. I do love coffee. I didn’t drink coffee until I was in my early forties. I jokingly say that it took me that long to grow up. Before that, I was hooked on Diet Coke, and prior to that it was Coca Cola. I truly had a soda habit, but now I don’t even really like soft drinks at all. But I do love my coffee! I have a couple of T-shirts that announce my dependency on Jesus and coffee. I have one that says, “With Jesus in her heart and coffee in her hand, she’s unstoppable.” Another one says, “This girl runs on Jesus and coffee, Hebrews 4:16.” It’s true. Caffeine is a crutch that gives me a little short term energy to do the things I need to do. Oh, but Jesus, He gives me the energy to get through every single day all day long. So where do we truly get our energy? We get our energy from rest, and true rest only comes from the Lord.

A couple of years ago when my grandson was five, he required a rest period during the day. He didn’t think that he needed a nap, but everyone around him knew the precise moment that a nap was needed. He has always been the happiest child, very talkative, intelligent, and creative, but after he goes fast and hard for a while, his energy depletes. He becomes a little bit whiny and irritable. A thirty minute respite still changes his whole attitude and outlook. After a short nap, he became that smiling sweet boy that we all love and adore. We are a lot like a five year old at times. We wear down, become weary and tired, and oh do we get irritable at times. We may unintentionally become snappy and short with those that we love. We may whine a little bit about our day and complain more frequently than we mean to. As adults, we also need someone to tell us to go take a nap so that we can get refreshed and renewed and wake up in a better frame of mind.

We may not be allowed to take long, luxurious naps during the day, but we still have the very best resting place. We can find respite in Christ all day long every day. To truly rest in Christ, we must truly believe that He can help us, save us, and deliver us in our most urgent needs. We must have a real belief that Christ can help us. It has to be so real that we can almost touch it and taste the sweetness of it. To truly rest, we must truly believe. If we truly believe, then we can trust fully, and my friends, when we truly believe and trust, we will find a rest like no other rest.

We must believe that the Lord is sovereign, and that He is the authority over our lives. We have to recognize that the Lord is in absolute control, and then we must believe that He can accomplish much in our lives. He is all powerful, all knowing, and ever present. He is there for us. He sees the trials that we are enduring. He knows when we are weary, and He knows how to give us rest. Isaiah 30:15 says, “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.” We find rest in the Lord by believing that He can help, save, and deliver us. When we believe, we trust that He can help, save and deliver us, but Isaiah 30:15 points out one more ingredient needed to find rest: repentance. If we have a sin problem, no matter how big or how little, that sin is separating us from the fullness of rest in Christ. We must lay that sin out before our Lord and Savior, confess, ask forgiveness, and turn away from it. If a sin problem is constantly worrying our minds and separating us from Christ, we will never know true rest. Our minds fill with worry and regret, and there is no rest to be found there, but when we have repented and been forgiven, oh the sweet rest that we find is sweeter than the sweetest honey.

We all need a whole lot of energy to get through our daily walk, some days more than others. We can drink all of the coffee in the world, but we all know that kind of energy will soon fade, and we’ll crash. When the caffeine leaves us, we are spent and weary. To get true, lasting energy, we must plug into the power source. We must plug into the Savior. Talk to the Lord, Have a little chat throughout the day, and lay your cares and concerns at the feet of Jesus. He can handle those things much better than we can. Read His Word. Rejuvenate your mind with the sweetness of the Word of God. Believe in Him. Trust in Him. Seek Him. Rest in Him!

Blessings,
KK