So it’s ok to just rest now. Rest in the promise of God’s peace. Rest your tired self, your broken heart, your sadness, your disappointment, your grief, your fear, your insecurity, and just rest all the other stuff that runs frantically to win the race in your mind. So much! Too much!
Yeah, but you can just rest in that precious promise of safety from our Lord because whatever it is that binds your mind with worry can be calmed by the Peace speaker. The Psalmist knew there was safety in His presence and he could sleep calmly and unafraid in peace, under God’s protection. So can we, regardless of what’s swirls around our heads, we can rest in the sweet assurance that we are safe in His keeping and that nothing can interfere with His plan.
So ’tis the season to be jolly? Is it really? Is it really a season of jolly and joyful or do we find ourselves in a scurry of just clear crazy? With so much going on in this COVID world and so much loaded on the ‘Good-Will’ ‘to-do’ platter, we might just find there’s too much conundrum on our own plate. How then do we quiet ourselves amidst this complete and complex craziness of so much of everything to both ponder and accomplish?
This year, it’s not just the hubbub of Christmas festivities but other things too, other issues that creep in from the far corners of your world! They sneak in like creepy shadows, without an invite, yet loudly proclaiming their presence as they parade dauntingly through the mind, intimidating every step of this way and that and every way in between. They rant on and on and on, about what they came to do. Things that go bump in the night and make sleep a thing of the past! Anxiety here, a tension there, a bit of strife and disagreement and our old enemy is boldly on deck, ready to snag us with a host of issues to distract from even seeing the ‘Merry’ in Christmas!
So ok, ’tis the season to be jolly but sometimes the “Merry” is so far removed from our life that we even fail to find the “Christ” of Christmas. Remember Him? He’s the Saviour of your day! Your life, your week, and your busy season of life. So, ok, beautiful one, as His child, whatever season you’re in, you can know He’s walking with you! Right along beside! So whatever you do right now, collect your messy thoughts and usher your busy, crazy world right into His sweet and powerful presence for some healing and some quiet. So now, there you are with your whole heart, smack dab in the presence of your amazing God, Maker, Creator, Savior, and Lord. What now? Well, just savour the Saviour and find His grace enough to dissipate those fears hidden in the shadows of that darkness!
Yeah, You’ll find enough peace there for the hectic, enough mercy there for miles you’ve trod, enough healing to rejuvenate the weary! You’ll find enough grace there too, for the moment, enough Light there for road and enough hope there to keep you on keeping on! Oh yeah, and that ‘goodwill “To Do” platter? Well, relax with it, it will be full and running over, just like your heart of joy and gratitude to the One who cares so deeply for your beautiful soul. So, beautiful you, while COVID runs crazy and the busy gets up to run wild in the days ahead, take a time out to get alone with the One who knows your upside and downside and confirm with the Psalmist as he pens in Psalm 97: 10 b,
“He protects the lives of His godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked. The light shines on the godly, and joy on those whose hearts are right.”Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Sometimes there’s a whole lot of fight, a whole lot of words, a whole lot of talk, a whole lot of rumors, a whole lot of right and whole lot of wrong. Half truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth. It’s difficult isn’t it to decipher truth from fiction and order from chaos? Beautiful soul, are you there today? In the middle of the thicket, the fog and the fight? Take courage from the book of 2 Chronicles, penned to give purpose and hope to a people whose future appeared uncertain. Does your future teeter on the abyss of fear and turmoil? Hear the words of King Jehoshaphat as he relayed God’s words to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. They were threatened and faced a terrible battle, that on their own was a pretty bleak situation. A no win, if you please! Yeah, it was just plain, downright, bad news any which way you looked at it? It was pretty much cut and dried! There was not a hope in the trenches for any kind of victory. Ahh, but God was there and His words were given to the King to speak over the people. Hear them if you will!
“You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.” Do we get that today? Can we hide those powerful words in our hearts and tuck them away into our minds and stand firm in our positions? The KJV says, “Stand still”, and I like both. Don’t you? Stand Still, Stand firm! Take your positions and watch the Lord deliver! It doesn’t say to talk, or speak out of frantic negotiations, but just to simply stand still. As a matter of fact if we read on we can see how they fought with Praise to their God, by singing. It confused the enemies and they lost their focus. How amazing is that and how awesome is God’s promise for us, when there’s a whole lot of fight and not a whole lot of sense going down about anything in your corner?
‘This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” Isaiah 30:15 Earlier in the book of Isaiah, The people of Judah were in desperate need of repentance and returning to the Lord, and in quietness and trust in their Lord, they would find strength. But they refused His offer. Do we? His offer still stands for us and is there today, this moment for us to accept. Repentance and Rest is the only thing that will win. Quietness and trust is our strength. We can take that promise from God to the bank and count on it. Either He is God or He isn’t? So how’s it going for you today?
Stand still, take your positions and in quiet confidence and trust in an awesome God, find all the strength you need for that weary soul and that tired mind!
#Soulfire
Hope and Healing In Hard Places 