Rest is a Weapon

Today I took some time to intentionally rest with Jesus. What does that mean?

I stopped. I was still. And I realized my mind has been going at 100 mph trying to analyze everything going on in my life. But mostly trying to analyze how to best represent Jesus in every situation.

Wanting to represent Jesus is not a bad thing. We were made to be in Christ and have Christ in us and to be Christ to the world.

But I’ve been trying to control it all instead of trusting Jesus to lead me and to speak through me. By analyzing every situation I’ve been constantly worrying if I said the right thing or acted the right way. But when I do that, I start to judge myself and be hard on myself if I think I’ve messed up or not done enough. Which is SO opposite of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

And when I’m hard on myself, I’m hard on others. When I can’t have grace for myself, I can’t have grace for others. Jesus says to love your neighbor as yourself. How you see and love yourself is directly related to how you see and love others. Which is why it’s imperative that we learn to see ourselves the way Yahweh does. As beautiful creatures made in His image with the same incredible inheritance as Jesus Christ. As the dearly beloved. Just as we are. Not because of anything we do.

And Jesus does not tell us to worry. He says to abide. To abide and trust. Because He will work on our behalf. He has the power to change others lives. But we must first give up our desire to be in control. We need to recognize that we are not in control but we have a GOOD Father who is. And so we trust.

Again and again we hand over our worry and desire to control in order to trust and experience a peace that passes understanding.

Paul says “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

So when I recognize something I am worrying about and trying to control, I turn to Jesus. I pray and ask Him to give me peace. I ask him to help me trust. And I experience peace with Him. Peace that protects me and guards my heart and mind. It’s so powerful every time I do that.

That is what I did today. I stopped. I recognized where I was trying to control and worrying. And I asked Jesus to calm my mind. I asked Him to remind me of His power and His goodness. And I experienced peace.

Rest is a weapon. To fight the enemy and his schemes from pulling us into worrying and trying to take control. The enemy knows we will experience peace if we rest. So he tries to make us busy and distract us.

Let us not be a people of worry because we are too busy to rest. Let’s continue to learn how to rest in Jesus and experience His peace.

Friends, learning is an everyday thing. So is making mistakes. And so is hope.

Jesus is in our midst. Everyday. Even when we don’t see him or recognize him. He is there. For I will be with you always, even to the end of the age. Hope. Jesus is our hope. And we always have it.