Resting on His Promises

 I went thrift shopping with my mom and I love thrifting books.  I loved the library growing up.  Its fun to take my kids to the same library, it brings back so many memories. 

While thrifting I felt a pull towards a book that was perfectly titled Everyday Sabbath The Real Art of Real Life Rest by Judy Braddy, with an illustration of a kitchen sink full of dishes.  It felt like it should have said Dear Nicole, Here is your life and I have some tidbits of goodness in here for you that you have been praying about.

I want to focus on a chapter titled Resting on His Promises.  I struggle with the words rest and sabbath.  Rest feels unproductive and Sabbath feels ritualistic.  Rest to me was sitting or laying doing nothing. Or binge watching TV. Sabbath dinner was something our family tried once and it was great to see culturally what some families do on a weekly basis, its a part of their life story.  Its beautiful but felt like I would have offended anyone who knew what they were doing, because I did not. I struggle with the words because I have many acquaintances who celebrate rest/sabbath differently, so is there a right and wrong way?

I have come to the conclusion that each one of us need to talk to our Maker and see what He wants us to do.  I have come to realize that true rest comes from His word, worship music, and getting out in nature with Him- for myself.  A Sunday nap, you bet, but if I turn the tv on, scroll my phone, jump up and start on my to do list, have I really followed His word that says Come to me who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest? (Matthew 11:28)

   For a long time rest has felt unproductive, and that turns into being impatient.  Which also makes it hard for me to wait upon the Lord. Then we come full circle to where I am ahead of Him, spinning plates out of control and they come crashing and I then turn to Him, and ask Where are you?  He is where He has always been, to the end of age.  I'm the one that went ahead. Again.

More time to plan, more time to prep cook, more time to clean, more time to fit it all in....we brought nothing into this world and we will take nothing out of it (1 Timothy 6:7).....if that doesn't wake me up to the fact that nothing I am making time for is more important than time with the Lord, I don't know what will.  

When I think of the times He has not answered my prayers in my time (I am fully aware of how selfish this is) I realize how little I make God.  As if I am the only person that is petitioning to Him.  As if my prayers are far bigger and more important than any other person on this planet.  Who do I think I am? Better question- who am I making God out to be?  Who am I showing my friends and kids who He is when they see me defeated?  Don't I believe I serve a big God? 

I feel like I have a recipe in place when I pray about something.  And when my timer goes off and its not the desired doneness, I just go ahead and fix or I try a new angle or I say I let it go but I pace around it like a pack of wolves over prey.  In order for the Lord to fully take it from my white gripped knuckles- I have to fully let it go and leave it with Him and walk away.   God has not asked me for help, he has asked for a relationship.  He has asked me to worship Him, trust Him, love Him, and take care of His people, to love my neighbors, help my husband, and raise up my children in the Lord.  He never asked for my power point strategies on how He can work things out.  For His word tells me in Isaiah 55:8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and m thoughts than your thoughts, "  and He works all things together for those who love him (Romans 8:28).  How well I will rest will be determined when I realize He truly has the best for me.  Truly knowing I am powerless over everything- I cannot breathe without Him- I woke up today, breathing, talking, walking.  All because of Him, absolutely no help from me whatsoever. 

What I get the most frustrated about myself is- this is something I seem to keep relearning.  However, I doubt I am the only person who feels like- Lord, I gave you trust yesterday over this or an hour ago or that last big prayer, so that's enough right Lord?  No.  He needs me to keep trusting Him, which means truly leaving it with Him. Every second of every day, and maybe its a conversation that happens multiple times a day, and even within the hour. That is constant relationship, that is being yoked with the Lord, side by side, footprints in the sand and when He carries me because I truly can't go another step without Him. 

I  can rely on Him to help me with my unbelief when I feel so powerless and with my human eyes I see no movement that He is my refuge in the waiting...waiting begets resting...resting begets trusting...trusting begets honoring that God has my whole life in His hands and His will over mine.

To fight of Satan, Jesus spoke the Old Testament to him. He spoke Gods truth.  I'm thankful that in homeschooling we have memorized 30+ verses, they have helped me in my moments of untruths to fend off temptation to think that God is anything less than who He is.  I still stumble, but if I can remind myself to stop it by speaking Gods word it makes the enemy flee while giving me confidence.  Hebrews 11:1 is a family favorite.  Faith is the confidence in what we hope for and the assurance of things we cannot see.  Blind Faith.  If I know Gods character by studying His word I should know that I can put all my faith in Him. And thankfully while I am powerless over Gods will, I am armed with Gods word that gives me power over the enemy. 

The world gives us many ways to figure things out on our own, or that we are enough, or that I can manifest something into being.  This creates an idea that I have some kind of power, and it creates striving and idolatry, and in the end I am not at peace, nor am I resting.  Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.  If my mind is steadfast on the Lord- unwavering no matter how hard life gets-and I create a habit of speaking and knowing God is working in heaven over all creation, and He cares for each one of us, He has named all the stars and knows all of us by name, then I can rest knowing He wants a relationship, time with just me and then I can find so much time throughout my day to honor and worship Him, creating an everyday sabbath.

Resting in the Lord is a gift that I can't afford to keep missing and I enjoyed this book very much to bring home a point that I have certainly been struggling with. Praying is our best tool in life, my prayer everyday is for everyone to know that time on this earth is short, we are not promised easy, but we are promised eternity with the one who created us so we can find time honoring, worshipping and resting in Him.