Last week I spoke on taking God at His word. Well, this week I am going to talk about resting and savoring in God's peace. Also, how we need to lean in and listen when God speaks.
The reason we need to lean on and listen when God speaks because He speaks with authority. And God does not fail. Thus, we can trust His words and authority.
I was reading in Matthew chapter 9, and an epiphany came over me, of how when Jesus speaks, He speaks with authority and love.
For instance, throughout the whole chapter of 9 Jesus heals people and calls Matthew the tax collector to be His disciple. I love how Matthew just gets up and follows. He does not question Jesus's reasoning for asking him to follow. Matthew just willingly follows Jesus.
And how later in the chapter Jesus heals two different blind men by restoring their eyesight. But what is more interesting is the question He asks them. Which is "Do you believe I am able to do this?"
This brings me to the point, do we believe God can do this or that? Do we believe He came to perform miracles? And that He can save us or give us peace when we need it. Do we believe He can give us peace when we need it most and pour out His grace on us?
Here is the thing, when we get so focused on the circumstances or feelings/emotions, or even relationships, instead of seeing the big picture of how God works behind the scenes we tend to put limits on how God works. We can become distracted by the wrong things instead of focusing on Jesus.
When in reality we have no idea how God is going to work in every different situation or circumstance that comes before us. God's ways and thoughts are way above us and way above our pay grades.
This is why we need to step back, take a deep breath, and let God work things out. And why we can trust God with the unknowns in life. Yet, we can pray for God to pour out His peace on us so we can rest in His steadfast love, and how we can lean in to listen to God's leading.
However, let me be clear there is no certain formula in living the perfect life on earth. Life is messy and filled with unknowns. Whereas, in Jesus, we have certainty of salvation and eternal life. So there is no three-point sermon or five bullet points to make your life magically better.
Jesus is the only one who can make and change your life for the better. Jesus is the only one who can bring you back to life and resurrect what is dead inside of you and turn it into a garden.
Moreover, getting in the presence of Jesus brings us great peace when we become overwhelmed or stressed out. I can relate to this because I have been stressed out and lacking peace lately by going through the motions of life to just get by.
Thus, this week I have learned to rest and savor moments of peace with Jesus. For the past several weeks I was running on overdrive working two different jobs completely exhausted and too tired to do much of anything.
And after slowing down to rest I have realized I was not resting or savoring time with Jesus or with family, but simply going through the motions.
Yet, that is not how we should be living through life to get to the next point but instead slowing down to enjoy moments with Jesus. This life is not a race to the finish but a journey of savoring the good moments with Jesus!
Just how like we need to savor being in the presence of Jesus and being still in His peace. When we are still in the presence and the peace of Jesus our souls find rest in the stillness of resting.
Whereas, if we racing through life in the hustle and bustle we will miss out on some of the blessings God has for us in the stillness of sitting in His presence.
And we will miss out on times of peace because we will become distracted and stressed out over things that do not matter that much.
Sometimes when we refuse to be still and sit in the presence of God. It can be because we are afraid of either the silence or because we do not want to be quiet long enough to hear what God actually will say. It is like we are afraid of being punished or rebuked by God because we were striving in our strength.
When we should not be afraid of God or being in His presence or of hearing His voice speak to us.
This is why I believe there is this silly stigma of how God is mean or ruthless or something in today's world. Instead, God is loving and faithful and good.
Yes, God disciplines us as His children in love, but He is not mean or ruthless. That would be against God's character and completely the opposite of who God is.
However, I think it has more to do with we are as human beings afraid to be alone with God because we are human beings and we fall short of God's glory. So we are afraid of disappointing God because we are not perfect.
Here's the thing God created us in His image and said it was very good. Check out Genesis chapter 3 for reference. So if we are created in His image I do not think we disappoint God.
So in case, someone needs to hear this. You are not a disappointment to God. God created you in His image out of love. Thus, if there is a lie floating around in your head that you are a disappointment stop right now and replace it with the truth.
God loves you, every part of you.
Furthermore, I believe we are afraid of being alone with God because we are afraid of the truth coming out. And because we might be afraid of just being still in the silence. But let me tell you sitting in the stillness of God's presence is a gift and something to treasure.
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whose the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts troubled, neither let them be afraid."(John 14:26-27ESV).
Therefore, we can rest in the assurance of God's peace that He leaves with us.
References:
English Standard Version Study Bible (2008) Crossway Publishing, Wheaton ILL,
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