Finding Rest

"Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light." Matthew 11:28-30

Baggage Carrier

Got Bags?

Many of us spend our lifetime collecting baggage. It may start when we are young--a harsh word from a parent or teacher, a cruel nickname or label from a classmate or friend. Some have suffered betrayal or abuse at the hands of those they trusted. Others have had great losses--parents, siblings or friends that have died at a young age. Still others have experienced debilitating illnesses that may last their entire lifetime. It all adds up--those bags we have collected are heavy--they weigh us down and keep us from being all that God created us to be, from experiencing the fulfilling life that God intended us to have. But here’s the good news--In John 10:10, Jesus said this:

“My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

The truth is, Jesus wants you to put down those bags. He will take them away, IF you will choose to follow Him. What do you have to lose?

Leaving the Pit Behind

I had known about God since I was a little girl. But He wasn't real to me. I knew the story of Jesus’ birth and the story of His death and resurrection. I had always been taught that if I believed these things were true and was a good person, then God and I were on good terms. But when the crisis came, I found myself wondering “Where is He? Does He know about me and my circumstances?” I realized I didn't know Him at all. What I learned, at the age of 41, was that knowing about God was not the same as knowing Him. I thought I was good enough for God to accept me, but He showed me, through a series of events, that I was selfish, self-centered and yes--sinful. Jesus paid the price that I could not pay. If I could clean myself up, then He suffered for nothing. Only He could bridge the gap between a holy God and unholy me. I could never be good enough to stand in God’s presence without acknowledging that Jesus did for me what I could not do for myself--He made me acceptable in His Father’s eyes.

 

 

Romans 10:9-10

"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved."

He Knows Your Name

For those who wonder, as I did, if God knows or cares...

1 “...O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.

2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I'm far away.

3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.

4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD.

5 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!

7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!

8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there.

9 If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans,

10 even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.

11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night—

12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!

18 I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!” Psalm 139:1-18

Big God--little me

When I cried out to God, not knowing how I was going to take care of myself and my children, I really didn't know who I was talking to. I knew the basics but I was sincerely hoping that God was greater and more powerful than I thought He was. I had never thought of Him in a personal way--that He knew me and I could know Him. I found out that, if I took just one tiny step towards Him, He would meet me there. As I look back, my faith was so small--but it was enough for God. Matthew 17:20 says this:

“Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Does that mean that my problems went away immediately? No. Actually, in some respects, they got worse. But something in me was different--I knew I wasn't alone.

The Promise

A New Song

“He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.”

Psalm 103

“Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—

who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's…..

 

How Deep Is Your Pit?

"There is no pit so deep that God's Love is not deeper still." 

                                                   Corrie Ten Boom

Life in the Pit

You may think that living in the pit means disgusting living conditions--filthy, rat infested and dark. It could. Some people have no place to lay their heads at night. Others merely have shelter--they may have no electricity or running water--only protection from the elements. My pit was nothing like that. I lived in a beautiful house in a great neighborhood. I had a family that I loved and every luxury that money could buy. You see, my problem was I didn't know I was in the pit. I thought it was all good until, one day, the foundation began to collapse--my husband decided to leave our family. For others it could be the loss of a job, financial crisis, health problems or the death of a loved one. It's like building a little house with toy blocks. If you remove one key block, the whole house becomes unstable. Remove another block and the whole thing may come tumbling down. Suddenly your perfect life looks like a pile of rubble. All those material things that you treasured mean nothing. I could just as easily have been in a deep dark hole. That's where I found myself--wondering if there was a God in heaven that knew about my circumstances and cared about me and my children. Your pit doesn't have to be a physical location--it can be your state of mind. Anywhere you find yourself without hope--without God.

 

This Is My Story

Psalm 40

"I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God."