Resting in the Lord
Recently, a bit before the break of the New Year, I stayed the weekend in one of the Family homes nearby for my day off. When I woke up in the early morning, the children hadn’t stirred yet, and it was calm and quiet. The Lord told me to turn my gaze towards the sunrise outside my window; He said He had something to tell me.
As I did, through groggy, still–sleepy eyes, the orange hues blended with the still blue sky… and He seemed to say to me that He was going to give me a special gift for the coming year: THE GIFT OF REST. I smiled at the thought; I’d needed that rest, as the last few months–the whole year, actually–had been so hectic and stressed. About a week later, the Family Publications came to my mailbox, and one of them was called, “Entering Into Rest”…with the following series all about Resting in The Lord. It seemed so fitting, so perfect, and quite the confirmation I needed that He wanted me to grasp this concept of truly “resting”, and how to physically–and spritually–apply it.
However, in the days following, I did everything BUT slow down.
I had to make an out-of-the-country trip, so there went a week of rest… on the flight home, I had a slight accident, and ended up in bed with a fever for another week after that. I am the kind of person who gets very annoyed with myself whenever I feel useless or “an invalid”, and this series of unexpected, “unfortunate” events left me even more agitated.
Then, the Lord gave me another personal message, and this time, He said:
“I told you this year that I would give you the gift of rest. And yet, you are treating this gift like a beautifully wrapped Christmas present under the tree. You haven’t opened it yet, because you like the look of it sitting prettily there with your name on the tag. You haven’t opened it yet, even though the unwrapping date has been long overdue. Accept this gift which I am giving you freely! Open it up, and open yourself up in full faith…and then come, enter into that rest.”
I’ve since realized that “Resting in the Lord” can mean simply entrusting things to Him with full faith that He will take care of that which we cannot, so long as we do our part, and do our best. And then, when we have found our limitations, and know when to put the brakes on, we turn the steering wheel over to Him. Again, not a lesson that comes naturally to me, but here’s even better news: He recently supplied for my family to take a week-long vacation at the beach; something we haven’t done as a family in over ten years! I am going to seize the opportunity to appreciate the goodness of the Lord and recieve this gift He is giving me, with open arms and a trusting heart.
After all, His gifts are pretty awesome, aren’t they?