Spiritual May 25, 2007
Posted by Han in : Relationship with God , trackbackOne of the most descriptive pictures that I can give about spiritual rest is a woman carrying her child in both her arms sleeping soundly in the midst of heavy rain and great storm. This picture speaks a lot about our relationship with God. In fact this is what I called the highest level of spiritual rest; that is to REST IN GOD. We are like the baby being carried by God safely and soundly in the midst of a turbulence world.
Most of the time we are troubled, worried and confused and, we do not know where to go and what to do when we are flooded by endless waves of problem. We failed to see that God is in control. In order for us to achieve spiritual rest we must first recognize that we are in the arms of God. Often we are affected by heavy rain and great storm and very likely our eyes were blinded. We cannot see GOD; we only see PROBLEM, PROBLEM AND PROBLEM! That is why we are unable to enter into rest – peace of mind and a calm heart.
Did you notice in the picture that the baby was sleeping soundly? The baby in the arms of the woman was not affected by the heavy rain and great storm. What does it actually speak of? You can still sleep despite in the midst of heavy rain and great storm. Jesus was found sleeping in the boat by his disciples during a thunderous storm. His disciples were terrified but Jesus was not. He got up and rebuked the storm and the waves. Peter was found sleeping in the prison as well. In Acts 12:7 the angel of God came to break his chains and delivered him out of prison. Spiritual rest starts from the heart and mind; and it will be translated into the physical and the very first indication of spiritual rest is you are able to sleep. I am very sure if you are troubled and confused you cannot really sleep. You will toss and turn in your bed. You will have sleepless night.
This is not what God wants us to achieve in our relationship with Him. God wants us to rest in Him. Resting in Him means to have faith in Him. The baby has got no doubt at all towards her mother. There was this deep assurance, that sense of trust. Similarly, there should not be any doubt or unbelief in our heart. If there is any, then we are unable to experience rest. Look at the Israelites in the wilderness.
So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ Hebrews 3:7-11
It is important for us to enter into spiritual rest. Let us not be like the Israelites where rebellion and unbelief rule in their hearts. As a result of that, they were barred from entering into the Canaan land. God has to wait for the entire generation to die (40 years) before leading the new generation to conquer the land. In conclusion, trust in the Lord and have faith in God (with no rebellion and unbelief) and you will experience the highest level of SPIRITUAL REST.
Comments»
no comments yet - be the first?