Learning to Rest

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

As I was reading this Bible text yesterday I began to think about resting.  My life is the typical church on Sunday, grocery store on Monday, school co-op on Tuesday, church on Wednesday, concert band practice on Thursday, and the list goes on and on.  We are busy people!

Next week I'm going on a trip with my church ladies, to relax!  I haven't planned a lot of entertainment or activities.  We are just going to rest.  We might do a little shopping.  But mostly, we are just going to relax.  Take a load off.  Rest and rejuvenate. 

God wants us to rest.  He rested when he made the world.  He worked for 6 days and he rested on the seventh.  He set the tone for rest.  He tells us to rest. Jesus himself when he was on this earth said,

"Come unto me

all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. " Matthew 11:28-30

In Psalm 23, David understood the rest of God.  He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside the still waters.  I can almost see David laying down in the green pastures relaxing or sitting by a peaceful river playing his little harp!  It actually makes me a little jealous!  hehe

God wants us to rest in Him.  We can still go about our busy day in peace and rest because we know that we have a Saviour that loves us and takes care of us.  David didn't always have a peaceful life.  He had trials, and even had a King trying to kill him at one point!  But still, his hope was in God!  His peace and rest was in God.  Even in those midnight hours when he thought he was going to die and was crying for his life, HE CRIED OUT TO GOD.  God helped him and delivered him from the evil that was trying to take him.

Child of God, you have rest, peace, and hope in the Lord if you will allow it.  God knows what is going on in your life.  Take some time to reach out to God and allow him to give you that peace and rest.  Even in your busy day, you can feel his presence going with you and ahead of you.  Take heart!  Find rest!