Demands of life are forceful;
Shoving, pushing me ever down.
Eyes on it, I’ll spend a lifetime
Struggling to hide vulnerabilities
Battling to beat jeopardies
Contesting to save a bit of me
For soundness, for wholeness:
There are no guarantees until I learn
To trust my fears in His care.
In His rest, I scale walls and wells
In His rest, I rise above crises
That once threatened to bury me.

Food For Thought: There are some goals that can and will be accomplished by our strength and abilities. And there are some dreams we are pursuing with all we have right now that may never be accomplished until we locate the place of God’s rest. In God’s rest, we find the key to unlock doors bearing labels of impossibility. In God’s rest, our all is spent, our best is done with, and God takes over. Ask yourself, what did Israel do to escape Egypt? What more did they do to get across the Red Sea? Nothing. Emissaries sent to deliver the message to Pharaoh had done their best which actually didn’t secure the anticipated release. They had to step aside for God to go forth and show His power. After the nation of Israel had packed up and left Egypt behind, they found themselves stranded before the Red Sea and could do nothing more than wait for the Mountain Mover to part the Sea. And He did. The Red Sea would not have parted if they sat back in Egypt waiting until they figured out how to cross that formidable challenge. They took God’s Word that said it was time to move, married it to their steps as they marched toward uncertainties and impossibilities. When their all was done, they stood and God moved what they couldn’t. This is a lesson for us all, after we have done all we can, to enter God’s rest and allow Him to go where we can’t, do what we can’t, to get us where we ought to be. This is the lifestyle God wants for us: to live in the manifest wonders of His powers.

Scripture: For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns. Isaiah 62: 1.

Prayer: Dear Lord, when the pressures of life pull in contrary and worrisome directions, draw me deeper into Your rest, amen.