Am I hoping for rest more than hoping in the God of rest?

Am I hoping that the rest I long for is my goodness instead of GOD BEING MY GOODNESS. How do I really and practically grasp that God is my rest, portion, and peace?

The SOURCE of blessing and rest should be my desire more than the blessing of rest. I don’t grasp this well or completely, but that it’s something I’m learning to grasp over a lifetime. Striving to just faintly trace this truth with my stretched out fingers, I’m sensing that I am to not work to get to peace…but to serve the worthy God of peace.

We find rest when we trust in HIM for grace in each moment, not just to get through each moment to receive our own concept of rest and peace. We find it when we choose to live relationally, moment by moment, with the Lord who helps us with our lists, not just to live to mark things off our lists. Refreshing rest is applied to us as we seek beyond temporary worldly peace and perfection, and experience heavenly, Holy Spirit-infused peace while doing messy, imperfect things in this world.

He offers us the ability to get through a moment well with Him versus just “getting through a moment.” He offers His perfect presence in an imperfect moment versus sludging through a task.

Circumstances will never be perfect but He is.

The God of Peace who is our Good Shepherd doesn’t just give lip service. He takes action as we walk through the valley of life in which we face both beauty and life, and the constant reality of chaos and death.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
 your rod and your staff,
 they comfort me.

Psalm 23:1-4

The heart of our common struggle is a lack of trust that the Good Shepherd truly helps us in our troubles and enables us to live out the kind of peace that He offers. It is a lack of trust that this peace is good and enough. When we live out a lack of trust for this, we are being ungenerous in our thoughts toward the Lord who has been so good to us.

“The conclusion from our history is that the One who has been with us in six troubles will not leave us in the seventh. What we have known of our faithful God proves that He will keep us to the end. Let us not, then, think thoughts that are contrary to the evidence. How can we be so ungenerous as to doubt our God?”

-Charles Spurgeon

When I sludge my way through things with my eye on the prize of completion or the end of the day instead of my eye on Jesus, I’m nearly always disappointed. By not even considering Jesus as part of a moment, am I in a way, doubting Him? Am I doubting He is of any value or help in my present moment?

May we not be like the father who brought his son to Jesus for healing and said, “IF you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.

May we be like him, though, in that he cried out and said, “I believe, help me in my unbelief!”

Jesus responded to the father, “IF you can! All things are possible for on who believes!” And He graciously healed the father’s son.

Jesus is always the answer against unbelief, sin, and the lies we may hold onto.

Let’s generously remember all the Lord’s help in the past to us as individuals, to other dear brothers and sisters, and to His people throughout the bible and through the ages. Let’s generously remember His faithfulness to us through His life, death, and resurrection? Let’s then also generously trust Him to accompany us now, in each moment. Trusting ultimately in Him, and not the completion of life circumstances, always brings peace.

Here is a sermon by my pastor-husband on Matthew 6 in which we are encouraged to apply ourselves to trusting the Lord in each moment of our lives. He gives daily grace as we live our lives, therefore we can respond to His command to not be anxious, but to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. His remedy for worry is to set our minds on things above (Colossians 3:1-4) and He enables us to do that.

If like me, you, as a follower of Christ, are wondering how you can trust the Lord to help you in each moment, consider a couple of truths about how the Holy Spirit helps us:

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

John 14:26

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13

May we ask ourselves this question.

Am I hoping in rest more than I’m hoping in the God of rest?

May we ask the Lord to show us where our hearts are in this. May we more and more readily admit our areas of unbelief and trust within our belief as we follow Christ!

Linking up with these lovely bloggers in the next week:

Inspire Me Monday