Dear Precious Friends,
On this Thankful Thursday I pray you are having a great morning and are filled with great joy that comes from time with the Lord. When praying about what to post today, I came across this wonderful reminder to always remember no matter what battle you have or are going through, the most important time we can have is with the Lord. I needed to be reminded of the last word: You're here with me now... REST.
There are so many scriptures and reminders of how important our time with the Lord is, and to REST in Him.
God wants us to enjoy our everyday lives. John 10:10 says that Jesus died for us so we may have life and have it abundantly. But it seems so many people who say they believe in Jesus are not really enjoying their lives.
It’s tragic to think that Jesus paid the price for our sins, that He suffered to make that sacrifice, and yet there are Christians who are struggling just to get by and make it through each day.
The key to having abundant life in Christ is living by God’s grace through faith. Because grace is His power working in us, enabling us to do whatever we need to do in life.
When we try to do everything in our own strength and leave God out of the equation, we just get worn-out and frustrated by our mistakes and failures. But when we lean on God, we actually enter into His rest and can enjoy our lives, no matter what our circumstances may be.
Hebrews 4:9-11 says, So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest…
Now the rest of God is not a rest from work—it’s a rest in work. It’s partnering with God to do what He is calling you to do by His grace, and leaving the part you can’t do in His hands, trusting Him to do it. Hebrews 4:3 says it this way: For we who have believed enter that rest… So we start by believing.
Trying vs. Trusting
When I’m trying to believe, I haven’t entered God’s rest. But when I do believe, I have complete rest in Him. Living by faith is not a struggle—it’s rest. And you can enter into God’s rest in every area of your life.
I’ve discovered that the stress in my life is caused by the way I approach my circumstances and the attitude I have toward them. It was a turning point for me when I realized that the world will probably never change, but I could learn how to change the way I go about handling situations that are challenging.
One key to this is knowing that as believers in Christ, we are partners with God—we have a part, and He has a part in everything He calls us to do. When we don’t do the part we can do and we try to do His part instead, that’s when we live stressed-out with worry, fear, anxiety, frustration, no peace and no joy.
The reason this happens sometimes is because we think God needs our help. We meditate on the problem—rolling it over and over in our mind, worrying, trying to figure out how things should work out. It’s like we’re telling God, “I kind of think You need my help, and I’m not sure You can take care of this situation, Lord.”
We need to realize that worrying is useless! It’s like sitting in a rocking chair, rocking all day, wearing yourself out and getting nowhere. Trusting God means we give up worrying, reasoning, and anxiety and we enter into His rest with simple childlike faith—we live by grace through faith!
It’s so amazing to know that God is always with us, giving us His grace for everything we need to do in life. We share over and over each week that He told us "In this world, you will have trouble, BUT TAKE HEART I have overcome the world.." John 16:33 His word reminds us He will never leave us or forsake us even when the road is rough. We can trust God’s unconditional love for us today. We do this by doing what we can, and giving Him everything else.
If you find yourself getting frustrated or feeling overwhelmed, like you just can’t do it anymore, remember to stop, get your focus back on Him and enter into His rest once again.
AMEN!!!
