Scripture Challenge REST

Hey, everyone!

This has been one busy year so far! WOW! I have been meeting myself coming and going! LOL But there have been some wonderful experiences along the way so I am definitely not complaining!!! Today we are celebrating my son's birthday. He will be two years old tomorrow and so we are planning a big celebration today with family and friends at a campground site not all that far from home.

Before I go, I wanted to share something on my heart...it's a timely message about rest. With school beginning Tuesday, and not really getting back to much of a bedtime routine, I am afraid the lack of rest will catch up with me quickly! Thankfully the children have been going to bed at a decent time but I stay up later in hopes to accomplish more work but do you know what the Bible says? It says to REST!
I am listing links to the scriptures I have included in my study this week. Click on the link and you can read from Bible Gateway.
Scriptures:
Genesis 2:3 (NKJV)
Exodus 33:14 (NKJV)
Psalm 37:7 (NKJV)
Isaiah 30:15 (NKJV)
Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)

Rest...
Rest....
The word REST is something I have felt God dealing with me about for a while now. I remember the first of the year, I kept feeling a strong urge to simply REST and yet I honestly did not know how! Of course I know what it means to take a break, put my feet up and rest! Sure! But I knew that wasn't what God was urging me to do!!! We definitely have to do that for our physical body but what about our inner man? Our soul? When does our spirit get to rest? When we die? Hmmm, well before that happens we can actually have periods of spiritual rest!

God worked six days straight! It doesn't say what sort of hours He kept, but we know that He worked for six days in a row! He was creating the earth and all that is in it, including you and me! You know what He did after that? He blessed and sanctified the SEVENTH DAY and the Bible says HE RESTED! He took the day off! He enjoyed all that He made! He liked it! We are told to do the same thing! It's even one of the TEN COMMANDMENTS! Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy!

(No, I am not going to argue about which day is the Sabbath...we're talking about resting here...)

You know Moses stuttered. He wasn't good at making big speeches in front of people and He was talking to God, trying to find a way to change God's mind about making him go out in front of the children of Israel to deliver this powerful message! You know what God said? It sort of sounds a lot like things parents say to our children when they want to get out of doing something they feel is too hard for them and we know they can do it so we encourage them. God told Moses, "My Presence will go with you and I will give you rest." Isn't that awesome? Not only was He promising to go with him, but He was giving him REST....a break, a chance to relax in his spirit!!!

We don't have to walk alone! We follow Christ and we are never alone! He will be with us. In Psalms we are told to REST IN THE LORD and wait patiently for Him. That is a lot to ask! WOW! But it's not TOO MUCH to ask of us! The Holy Spirit is with us, leading and guiding us and helping us along the way. We don't have to be upset because someone else seems to be successful and we're not when they aren't walking with God and we are. We just have to wait for our time to come while we are RESTING in Him!

I love that line in Isaiah...In returning and rest you shall be saved. Returning to God and His ways. Finding true direction by following God and resting in HIM! It's not having to be afraid or worried about what is happening next, what might be around the corner or what your current situation looks like. God is bigger than any problem we can have and He IS the answer!

The sweetest words I have ever read from Jesus is found in the last scripture I shared here today. Matthew 11:28-30...He is beckoning us to come to Him. Have you ever had someone just want you to stay a while and talk or visit? You knew you were in a hurry and you felt like your To Do list was getting longer instead of shorter but this person was asking you to please come and rest a minute? If you will only take the time to stay a few minutes and rest sometimes you will find it's like a refreshing drink to your thirsty soul. You are able to do more with a fresh energy you didn't realize you had because you took the time to rest. In the day and age we live in, everything is fast, faster, fastest! We get impatient waiting on the microwave! Fax machines, e-mail, texting, IMing, and on and on has made us hurry up and WAIT!! Flying by the seat of our pants to this appointment, that activity, running errands during lunch hour while eating something unhealthy or skipping a meal altogether leaves us cranky and irritable because we didn't take the time to REST when we had our BREAK TIME. Jesus compels us to come to Him and rest. He said this is an invitation for all those who are tired and feel like they are carrying a heavy load. Come and sit down with Me for a little bit. Lay your burden down and sit with Me. He promises to give us REST. How do we do that? We take HIS yoke upon us and learn from Him for He is gentle and humble in heart. Are we ever like that? And what will we find? REST FOR OUR SOULS! How could this be? He said His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Sometimes when things are HARD and the weight on my shoulders is anything BUT light, I have to stop and think about whose yoke I have put on! Jesus said His yoke is easy and His burden light so if I am feeling the opposite then maybe I haven't taken enough time to REST in Him. Maybe I have been trying to put everyone else's yokes and burdens on me because it doesn't seem like much at the time but you put it all together and it's quite a load! It's like you agree to help with the PTO. It seems like something small and spread out throughout the year. It's not like I am signing up to head it up, you think, just help out with a party or two...and that yoke goes on! Someone else knows you have a special gift or talent. You enjoy sharing it and it never feels like a burden to use your gifts so when someone asks you to help them you put that yoke on. It's not much! You come across some other fun things to do and you add them on, before you know it you are bending over from the weight of all you are carrying. You cannot understand why you are feeling so rushed and hurried when you are doing so many great and wonderful things. Why aren't you feeling God's presence like you did before? Why isn't your joy full? Could it be that you replaced His easy yoke and light burden to pick up the weight of those around you? I find that is often where I go wrong. I am not doing anything bad or wrong...sometimes I am just simply saying yes too much! I have to start saying, "Let me get back to you on that." It's hard but I have to stop trying to please people so much and learn to please God! I can't please everyone everytime anyway! I was created to praise the LORD and glorify Him. If I will sit and rest more I will be able to do that!

I pray that you all find that quiet rest for your souls that Jesus longs for you to have! God bless you!!! You can do these scripture challenges, too, anytime. Click here for more information!

Hugs,