Rest in God Alone!

Let me introduce you to "Peanut." She officially belongs to Patty, the administrative assistant in Psalm 19. However, most of us who know her claim her as our own in one way or another. She is a very sweet 5 year old puppy and weighs 9 pounds. As you can see, she enjoys sleeping. In this picture I caught her napping on the shoulder of Patty's husband, Tim.

Rest in God alone, my soul
for my hope comes from Him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation my stronghold;
I will not be shaken.
Trust in Him at all times, ou people;
Pour out your heart before Him.
God is our refuge.
Psalm 62:5-8 HCSB

I used this text to encourage our on-line Intercessors this morning, and thought I would write about the passage a bit here. As Peanut is perfect content to "rest" on Tim's shoulder, so our lives are supposed to be spent, not in stress, not in anxiousness, not in busy rush-rush, but in rest.

The fact that Jesus is resident within us seals this fact. He said, "Come unto Me and I will give you rest." The act of coming to Him is in itself rest. However, if in His presence all we do is act like "beggar children," very fearful He will not do what we deem is necessary, then in our very pouring out we reveal we do not trust Him. There is no rest in that.

To rest in Jesus is to keep or observe "Sabbath." In Genesis 2 where we read that Elohim rested on the seventh day, it was a prophetic statement of what the Messiah would be when He came -- total rest for His own.

I believe (and have found that for my body it is essential) a day of rest is necessary for our bodies to work at optimum. However, I find when we observe our weeks, our modern life does not help us with this concept. In revealing the Sabbath to us, the Scriptures are very clear that the day set aside was intended for rest. Many of us have turned that into a day of corporate worship. I do not have a problem with that, unless our corporate worship + family meal + teaching children + preaching etc... ends up being more work than any other day. We really need to return to a day of rest. I do not think our New Covenant Lord cares which one, but the principle of rest is still a part of the creation.

A true Sabbath is described in Matthew 6 -- the entire chapter. Read it and list the ways of "being" described there and you will find what and how rest is described. This is in line with the Law and the prophets. Jesus is the Sabbath -- our Sabbath. This is trusting in God alone.

This photo of peanut was made in the middle of a loud and fun filled Christmas party. But all the excitement and food was just set aside in her little heart as she "rested" on Daddy and just let the party happen. If we would only rest on Daddy's shoulder and let our world go on in its swirl, we could really rest. Oh, how we need that heart.