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Rest for the Weary

I have nothing to offer you today. Seriously.

I sat at my computer several times over the last few days praying for divine inspiration to share with you. What do they need, Lord? What do you want to speak through me?

Several times I felt I had a direction, and my fingers began to move across the keyboard. They stopped moving after about the second paragraph. Going nowhere.

I have to admit it’s been frustrating. And I’m not used to it. I prefer when God weaves a message together nice and early in advance of my deadlines. Not so this week. Like I said, frustrating.

I have a feeling He’s trying to teach me something. After all, Jesus has been speaking one word into my life for several weeks now.

Rest.

I don’t believe He’s telling me I need to take a vacation, although Scripture clearly points to the need for Sabbath rest. I’m talking about resting in Him.

I think it’s one of those things we talk about but usually don’t know how to do. I’ll admit, it’s my nature to struggle with this one.

But God promises in Isaiah 46:4,

“I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

Yet very often we fall short of experiencing that promise. Instead, we find ourselves striving so hard we’re exhausted. And frustrated.

Like when I tried to will a blog into existence. Or should I say, when I tried to get God to give it to me in my timing instead of His.

I’ve discovered that when I try to force my will on God, I always end up weary.

God wants to carry us, dear one, but sometimes we’re so busy trying to make things happen that we don’t allow Him room to move. Our self-sufficiency blocks the flow of His power.

You and I need to learn to rest in Jesus.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

Jesus always keeps His promises, beloved. He kept this one to me today.

You see, I’ve also discovered firsthand that He sends us what we need if we will open our hearts to receive it. And He’s always right on time, even if it is Tuesday evening and later than I would like. So when my girlfriend called late this afternoon to share something with me, I didn’t tell her I couldn’t talk because I had to write my blog. Instead, I listened. And we talked. And then we prayed.

And prayer has a way of releasing things.

Phone in hand, I moved to my knees on my living room floor and for a few moments stopped thinking about my own frustration. I let the Lord lead us in prayer for a dear sister and friend who is struggling under the weight of oppression. We wept together in intercession for several people God placed on our hearts to lift before the throne. Precious minutes turned to half an hour.

And Christ met us there. I can say that with certainty because He promises He will.

“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20

As we finished our time together, my friend prayed for me on the phone, asking the Father to provide what I needed. And God spoke. Just write from where you are.

So I started typing without a direction in mind, without a Scripture to anchor the teaching. I have nothing to offer you today. I just trusted He’d take me somewhere. Apparently, He did, because I seem to still be typing.

Come to think of it, isn’t that what faith is supposed to look like? At least, that’s how it began when God first called Abraham.

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” Genesis 12:1

God asked Abraham to leave behind everything he knew and follow Him to a land he’d never seen. He had nothing but a promise to hold onto, “I will show you.”

Faith looks pretty similar in the New Testament as well.  Jesus didn’t tell the disciples where they were going in advance. He simply said, “Follow me.”

Dear one, faith isn’t about working hard, or having the answers up front before we trust God. It’s about drawing near to Jesus and trusting Him to lead you into the unknown, beyond the boundaries of what you have planned.

That’s a pretty scary place for most of us. But it doesn’t have to be. In fact, it shouldn’t be. Because the Lord who promised to lead and carry you means to “prosper you and not to harm you” (Jeremiah 29:11). He intends to lead you into a beautiful future.

It’s only scary if you don’t believe.