Summer is usually a season where we get to kick back and enjoy some long weekends and a vacation here or there. I believe God desires for us to rest and enjoy life, even more than we allows ourselves to at times. We too often are like Jonah – instead of finding our peace in the sovereignty of God, we flee to find solace in our own plans and productivity.
That reminds me of the passage in Isaiah 30:15-16 which says,
For thus said the Lord GOD… “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” But you were unwilling, and you said, “No! We will flee upon horses”; therefore you shall flee away!
The Lord in essence is promising that through returning (or repentance) and rest we will find our salvation, and in quietness and trust we will find strength. Yet sadly, we often respond as Israel did and stubbornly say “No! We will flee upon horses” or in other words – No, God! I will not rest; I will keep going with my own plans and busy life rather than trusting in you.
Friend, I know that it is hard to rest in the Lord. Our days are busy. Our mornings are sleepy and our evenings are exhausted. Nonetheless, we must insist upon stillness before God. This can happen in your own quiet time on your couch, or it can be in the silent confines of your car (with the radio off). We can find a way to be still before the Lord even when the world around us is spinning like a merry-go-round.
Rest in the Lord is a matter of your heart being still before the Almighty. So what can you do today to just be still? How about a walk alone at lunch or after work? Or a few minutes with your Bible at the kitchen table while the kids are in bed or napping? Maybe just a few moments of silence and prayer before you fall asleep? Find time to rest in God today and you’ll long for it tomorrow.
This world is coming at us 100 miles an hour – though we can’t stop the world, we can still our hearts and find “The rest of God.”
How do you find time to rest? What do you do to rest?
