November 10 – Resting In Silence

 “My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.” – Psalm 62:5-6 (NASB)

There are times in our lives that our best option is to back away from our worries and take a respite, like a breather. The idea of waiting in silence as we read in this verse is very close to the idea of resting.  God created us humans and gave us a physical body that needs rest for recuperation from the work we do.  God also gave us a soul which also requires rest and we get that rest by waiting for God in silence.  When we wait we can hear and learn to believe in God's promises.  That's what gives us hope and that hope comes from God.  Our word 'hope' means a way to wish. We want but don't know if we will get it and perhaps will be disappointed.  But God created us to have hope that comes from Him and never disappoints us.  Our hope grows and gets stronger as we wait in silence.  As we wait in silence, we think about and meditate on what God has promised.  He promises hope from his unchangeable character and lovingkindness.  Today let’s do it; let’s wait only for God and for Him alone.

 

195

March 1 – Patient Resting

“Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.” – Psalm 37:7 (NASB)

Don’t we all remember when we went to school for the first time? For most is was Kindergarten. Some time during the day all in the class took a break from activities and rested. During the rest period we were told to “be still” which was difficult for some of us. Indeed, very difficult for most 5 years old children. The command we have in today’s verse is to “rest in the LORD” which is just as correctly rendered “be still before the LORD.”  Just as a 5 year old is not really resting if he or she is wiggling about, we are not truly resting if our concern and activity is fretting about those who seems to be “getting away” with their malevolent behavior. Many cheat, lie, steal, and run confidence games on good people and seem to escape legal consequences. The first verse in this psalm said it first. “Do not fret because of evildoers, Be not envious toward wrongdoers.” Our promise is that we do not need to fret. We actually do not gain anything if we become so obsessed over the evil in this world – and we miss the rest we need. 

 

196

January 22 – Resting While Working

“So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.” Hebrews 4:9-10 (NASB)

Resting is trusting in the midst of trials and testing. It’s well for us to be aware of the benefits Christian faith which God gives us to experience. In these days as attacks on our faith by the enemy grow more and more overt, we can find a promise of rest in today's verse. This concept of resting began a long time ago. God rested after the creation of the universe. In the Old Testament God wanted His people to rest on His promise to take care of them. They often disappointed Him by trying to work things out their own way. God is still eager for us to rest upon His promises. We rest on His promise to give us eternal life when we believed on Jesus as our Savior. He wants us to know that our ultimate promised rest is not realized fully during this life on Earth. That rest is ours today and it will be fully realized in the Messiah’s Kingdom. Now we hold an earnest of the promise. Instead of worrying about things, let's rest on God goodness and love today and remember the promise that has been given to each of us.  

198

January 4 –Trembling for God

“Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?” – Acts 7:49-50 (ESV)

These words, spoken by Stephen to the Jewish Sanhedrin in defense of his faith. Stephen was a deacon in the truly first church in Jerusalem and became the first Christian martyr. Stephen quoted Isaiah 66:1-2. It is a reminder for us to remember church is not a building, in grand or simple architecture and the size and does not make a place a church. When emphasis is on the structure, we tend to limit God to that building. Because of His majesty no one can build a house for Him to dwell in (1 Kings 8:27); God is the Creator of all things – especially all things used to build the grand and beautiful church buildings. What He values above His inanimate Creation are people who are humble and contrite (Isaiah. 57:15) and who follow His word. God desires to dwell in the hearts of persons who takes His Word so seriously that it produces humility, broken spirit, and trembling in the presence of His Word. “But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.” Isaiah 66:2b

189

September 26 – Trading Weary for Rest

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28 (NASB) 

Weary. Heavy-laden. Do not we all feel this way from time to time? in this passage. This is an open invitation from Jesus to all who hear—but expressed in such a way that the ones who will respond to the invitation are those who are burdened by their own effort of trying to be good enough to please God and “qualify” for heaven. The ‘rest’ that Jesus promises is rest from just that self-effort to be righteous enough through one’s own good works. Many will think and say “I’ve lived a pretty good life and I’m going to heaven.” A pretty good life will never be good enough. There is only one way any of us will find ourselves to be that good and that is through Jesus Christ who gives to us His righteousness. It is impossible for us to be good enough even though we’ve been better than pretty good. Jesus says, “Come to Me because I can give you rest from your weariness. I can lift that heavy burden off of you. And it is free.” He bought that rest for us when he was crucified without sinning and died for sinners⸺that’s us. 

197

June 23 – Rest and Trust

“For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” But you were unwilling,,,”  Isaiah 30:15  (ESV)

Our verse is part of a prophecy God sent to His people Israel through Isaiah His prophet. Isaiah delivered this important message to His people. It is a promise for all but in this instance it was a promise that the people rejected and were unwilling to submit to it. By not accepting the promise Israel missed the blessing of it. God wanted to them to learn this truth, and it is still effective even today. You and I will do well to listen to this promise. God wants us today to know the secret to salvation and strength. Rest, or relax, and trust in Him. If we have been trying to live right by our own effort, we need to realize that God offers to help us to live right and also to accomplish lasting results. The kind of rest promised comes from trusting the words of God. We can rest by believing and following God’s instructions. Let's believe His words and quit trying in our own strength. Let's remember these words, “In quietness and trust is your strength.” It's a promise and a blessing for us if we will have it.

193

May 6 – Marvelous R & R

“And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.’”  Exodus 33:14 (NIV)

Does it make a difference for us, in how we live, to know that God is with us through difficult hours? I believe it certainly does, just as it did in the time of Moses when God gave him this promise. God had just reviewed His instructions to Moses, telling him to lead the people of Israel from Sinai to the Promised Land. Typical of Moses, he was again in a self-made quandary. Even though God had led the new nation of Israel out of Egypt with marvelous manifestations of His loving care and provision, and even though God had relented and provided whatever Moses and the people complained for, Moses was frequently disturbed by challenges God put in their path. In spite of God’s promise “I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites…”  Moses asked who was going with him. The Lord assured him that He Himself would go with him. Then He added that He would give them rest by bringing them to the land after their wanderings. We, too, can have confidence when we remember that God is with us. It’s a rest we can experience when we trust Him.

199

May 5 – Bank of Faith and Trust

“Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant.”  - 1 Kings 8:56 (ESV)

These words, spoken as a benediction by King Solomon following his prayer of dedication for the Temple which he had built in Jerusalem.  This was the first Temple built in Jerusalem.  Up until this time, since receiving the Law to Moses, when the people were in the wilderness worship was done in the Tabernacle, or Tent of Meeting.  It has been nearly 490 years.  Solomon praises the Lord God who has kept His every promise.  There has not been a single time in the history of these people, says Solomon , that God failed to keep his promises.  And it continues without failing to this very day, and God continues without failing to keep all promises into eternity.  God promised Moses and King Solomon believed those promises.  We too can believe the promises we find in the Bible. All the promises made to Adam and Eve, to Noah, to Abraham, Isaac,  Jacob and Joseph will be kept.  We can rejoice thinking about God’s promise to keep His promises and offer us words of blessing and thanksgiving to God for each promise. Put it in our Bank of Faith and Trust because God backs it up, it will never fail. 

-199-

May 29 – Rest, Don't Fret

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!  Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.”  Psalm 37:7-8  (ESV)

It is from Psalm 37 that we have chosen our verses for today.  This is a Psalm that is rich in promises that are ours as a result of our following the behavior God has set forth for us.  Today's verse says, “Be still,” or “Rest.” We are to trust God to work his promises in His time and not to spend time fretting over the circumstances in which we find ourselves. In particular, don't compare ourselves to others.  Don't measure our circumstances with the circumstances of others who seem to be doing well in the way they are doing business. Don't become anxious that some non-believer is making it rich through his unethical actions and work.  Don't get embroiled setting them straight even if what they are doing is not right.  Why?  Because we have another but different kind of outcome promised to us if we choose to not get stirred up and angry.   Getting upset and involved in trying to sort out another person is likely to get us entangled in their evil.  No, fretting is NOT our way.  Our way is to be still and wait for God to act on our behalf and to follow the path He sets before us.  

# # #

January 31 – Side By Side Together

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”   Matthew 11:28-30  (ESV)

God knows very well that His children face times when they are over burdened and tired.  He provides rest and help and encourages us to go to Him for help.  We can be certain that in this day where we live, being a true follower of Jesus Christ is going to cost something.  For some in the world it has always cost a great deal but for others it has been easy to claim to be a Christian.  But that is changing and Jesus knows that for each of us, if we follow Him that we will face challenges and He wants to help us.  He wants us to come along side of Him and He will give us rest.  This is a call to a life of following Jesus Christ who gave His life and died in our place so that we can have eternal life.  If we truly believe and have the faith to receive forgiveness, we will find that the task is not as difficult as it appears.  He is beside us helping us and strengthening us in all things. 

#-#-#

January 30 – When Silence is Good

“My soul, wait in silence for God only,  For my hope is from Him.”  Psalm 62:5 (NASB)

What does it mean to 'wait in silence' for God only?  Waiting in silence is a means of of resting.  Much of the world practices taking a break during the day when it is the hottest.  We call it 'siesta' and during this break, we are quietly resting, napping or perhaps simply thinking about things.  However it is done, it rejuvenates the body and the mind for work the rest of the day. We live in a loud and busy world with many distractions which pull us this way and that way and we've learned foolishly to think that we must respond and attend to them all.  We get involved and we get stirred up.  Just reflect on how many participate in useless activities in which the world captures our attention and distracts us from our focus on the source of our hope.  God calls us to rest, to wait in silence for Him and only Him, because that is the only way we will find hope from that does not let us down.  That is the best way to hear God clearly.  Don't make Him shout at you above the din of the world to get your attention. Wait in silence and He will deliver a lasting hope, it's a promise. 

#-#-#

November 10 – Rest Time

“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.”  Psalm 62:5 (ESV)

The idea of waiting in silence as we read in this verse is very close to the idea of resting.  God created us humans and gave us a physical body that needs rest for recuperation from the work we do.  God also gave us a soul which also requires rest and we get that rest by waiting for God in silence.  While we wait we hear and learn to believe in God's promises.  That's what gives us hope and that hope comes from God.  We commonly use the word 'hope' in a different way and think of it as a wish we want but don't know if we will get it.  But God created us to have hope that comes from Him and never disappoints us.  Our hope grows and gets stronger as we wait in silence.  As we wait in silence, we think about and meditate on what God has said and promised.  He promises us hope that comes from his unchangeable character and lovingkindness.  Today we can do it; wait only for God and for Him alone. 

# # #

September 2 – Rest by the Grace of God

“So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.” Hebrews 4:9-10 (ESV)

The author of these words is reminding us and pointing back to the time when God created the world.  We remember that the Bible tells us that after God had finished the work of creation, He rested (Genesis 2:2).  This meant that the work He had planned to do was all done.  Our verse today also reminds us that God wants us to rest too.  We can call this the rest of faith.  God doesn't want us to continue to keep trying to be good enough to earn this rest.  He wants us to accept what Jesus has done for us through faith-believing and to allow His work to make us good enough.  He offers us rest and He has made it possible for us to enter that rest.  We really do not please God by trying harder, we please Him by trusting what He has already done for us and trusting Him to work in our lives each day – even today.  This is the promise of rest we have been given.  Not because we did it but because Jesus did it for us and we believe it by faith.

If these short posts bring encouragement to you, please share with others. 

# # #

July 12 – Relax and Rest

“The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”” Exodus 33:14 (NIV)

This is such a wonderful promise given by God to Moses, and to us also.  We can be assured that He is with us.  It is a promise we need to remember just as Moses needed to remember it.  It was given for a special reason and we see that in the last words of the verse where God said, “and I will give your rest.”   Moses had led the Israelites out of Egypt and they were at Sinai.  God wanted Moses to lead them them on to the promised land.  They were a difficult people and the assignment seemed too big to Moses.  That is when God gave him this promise.  The promise was the for the presence of God and that gave Moses reason to relax, to rest.  We too can know that God will be with us because of His many promises to do so and we too can find rest, even in the middle of stressful circumstances and difficult situations that seem too big.  When we face great challenges in life, let's remember our God is with us and let's relax, trusting in His presence.  He will  care for us as He promised in our verse and in the middle of the battle we can rest.  

June 30 – Rest and Trust

“Return to your rest, O my soul, For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.” Psalm 116:7 (NASB)

Do you ever talk to yourself? Most people do and when we read in the Psalms in our Bible we realize that the writers must have done that quite often. One example is our verse today where the psalmist acknowledges the fulfillment God has made of His promise.  It is profitable for all of us to stop and think of how good the Lord has been to us.  The psalmist had evidently met some situation that was disturbing to his mind and heart. Then he began to think of how God had shown His love and His goodness previously in his life.  That brought him back to a place of rest.  If you have been a believer for some time you can very likely remember occasions when God showed His goodness to you. Even new believers can recognize God's work in their lives. Keep occasions like that in mind when your soul becomes restless or disturbed for some reason. It will help you to rest and trust the Lord to see you through again.  And, don't be afraid to talk to yourselves and remind yourself of God's promises. It's a good reason to tuck a few verses away in our memories – verses that contain promises from God. 

May 29 – Never Disappoint

“Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.” Psalm 33:22 (ESV)

The last verse in Psalm 33 is a short prayer. This is really a prayer of faith. When we think of God's love as enduring and never failing, that is faith. We believe that God loves us and always will. The “steadfast love” can also be rendered as “unfailing love” and we can believe that God loves us and always will. Our verse also mentions our hope and of course that is not wishful thinking, it is expectation. When we expect God to show us His love that is also faith. So, in faith, let's expect God to demonstrate his steadfast love to us. And, let's expect it to be not a once in a while experience but a lasting all time experience.  That's what it means to have God's love resting upon us all the time. God's love is with us all the time, that is a promise God has given to us and we can trust in it with a hope that will not disappoint us – not ever.  

March 31 - Holy Saturday, Sunday Is Coming

“So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.” Matthew 27:66 (NIV)

We have been considering how Jesus approached His death on the cross and how He died. Now, let us consider what happened after He died and after He was buried by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus in a new tomb. His burial was quickly done on the same evening that Jesus died. What happened on Saturday? We are told that some of the women who had followed Jesus watched the burial that Friday evening, prepared spices and perfumes to anoint His body. But because Saturday was the Sabbath, the women decided to wait one more day. The interesting thing is that although the friends and disciples of Jesus were inactive on Saturday, some of his enemies were not. Matthew records how the enemies of Jesus remembered what he had said about rising again. They went on Saturday to request a special guard at the tomb where Jesus was buried. Today's verse describes what resulted from their request. Jesus had promised to rise again and nothing that his enemies did would stop what God would be doing on Sunday morning.   

March 18 – Waiting in Silence

“For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.” Psalm 62:1 (ESV)

We learn from today's verse how the psalmist David described his experience of trusting in God. The Bible tells us that when God created human beings He created us in His image. We understand that this includes much more than the creation of our human form. The image of God includes the way we are made inside – our feelings, emotions, our minds and our spiritual make up. So we understand that God made our souls in such a way that we can be spiritually satisfied only in knowing Him.  Our verse also reminds us that only in fellowship with God will our souls be able to wait and rest even  in the middle of the outward conflict that goes on around us.  Our souls require the experience of the presence of God before we are truly satisfied.  How good then to know that He is present with us. Complete spiritual satisfaction is possible to us as it was for David.  Even today no matter what is happening around us, we can wait for God alone. 

February 16 – His Presence with Us

“And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.” Exodus 33:14-15 (ESV)

It is in Exodus chapter 33 that we find one a very striking conversations between Moses and the Lord recorded.  Today we have selected part of that conversation. The Lord God brought His people out of Egypt but they had not yet gotten to the Promised Land. They were still in the wilderness at Mount Sinai. God wanted them now to continue the journey and He promised to go with them. We've selected this verse to remind ourselves how important it is that the Lord is involved in what we're doing these days. God has promised to be with us as we live by faith from day to day. He wants to show us the way as He promised Moses that His presence would be with them. God has also promised us the same thing – He is with us wherever we go.

February 15 – From God Alone

“My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him.” Psalm 62:5 (NASB)

In this verse it seems as if the psalmist is talking to himself, doesn't it? It is interesting to compare these words with those in the first verse of the same psalm.  There, the psalmist gives the testimony that his soul does find salvation in God alone. “My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him is my salvation.” Psalm 62:1 (NASB) So David knew where his soul could find rest and he later repeats that it is only God who can give him spiritual rest. We sometimes need to remind ourselves of truths which we have learned and know. We trust that you have experienced this peace that only God can give. In spite of that, we can sometimes wonder what has happened to the peace which we once knew. When such uncertainties enter our thinking we need to remember this promise just as the psalmist did. It is God and God alone who gives us that peace and rest even in the midst of difficult circumstances.