Kingdom Rest

There is so much unrest, violence (physical and verbal,) despair, anger, chaos, in the world today. Worse, the same sentiments are present in the Church as well. It doesn’t matter what side of the _____ fence you sit on (fill in whatever you want: political, religious, life choice, etc), we are all being pushed to the limit, closing in on a breaking point, losing our focus. Many are becoming fearful, depressed, inconsolable, etc. Hope is lost. Christians today find it difficult to stay true to God, to walk the Christ-centered path. Difficult, but not impossible. One must stay focused on the Lord. Even when the storm is all around you. In due time, according to His plan and timing, He will still the turmoil. As He did for the Apostles on the fishing boat. Jesus was asleep when the storm arose. The Apostles, fishermen by trade and accustomed to storms, were frightened. In fear, they awakened Jesus, who stilled the storm with “Peace! Be Still.” (Matthew 8:23-27)

Those words, “Be Still,” were as much for the Apostles as they were to the storm. Jesus had recently called them off their fishing boats to follow Him. They watched as He went about all Galilee, teaching and preaching, and healing the sick. They sat with Him as he delivered the “Sermon on the Mount,” came down and continued to perform miracles, healing a leper, then a Centurion’s servant, then Peter’s mother-in-law, and scores more. After getting into the boat and setting out, the storm came upon them. Jesus, once awakened, rebuked the wind and sea, saying “Peace, Be Still!” In that one statement, He addressed both the storm and the Apostles, in an effort to calm the storm and the Apostles. He then chastised the Apostles, asking them why they were afraid and had no faith. The Apostles, the ones who had awakened Jesus, wanting Him to do something, became even more fearful when He did what they asked, and wondering who this man was that even the wind and sea obeyed Him. These men, on a word, had stopped what they were doing not so long before this, left everything they had known, and followed Jesus. They had been up-close witnesses to the miracles Jesus performed. Yet, instead of obeying Jesus and calming down, they became more fearful.

Sometimes, God will speak out against the storms of our lives, as He did for the Apostles, or redirect the storm as He did Hurricane Harvey when it threatened Corpus Christi, TX, a few years ago, turning it eastward just before landfall. Sometimes He works to calm your inner being instead of calming or vanquishing the external threats, as He is doing now, touching the hearts of many as the world “falls apart” around us. If we, too, were to answer Jesus’s call to come to Him, surrender to Him, focus on Him, He will give us rest.

Over the last several years, I’ve had a difference of opinion with a friend concerning the meaning of Matthew 11:28-30:

“Come to Me, all you 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.”

This person felt I was working too hard and I needed to rest, as God was commanding in this verse. I was doing too much and needed to take a break and “plop down on the couch.” My position was that as long as I was doing God’s will, He would give me rest, meaning giving me strength, endurance, and ability to do what He had given me to do. He would give me the couch-type rest according to His plan, when I needed it. Meanwhile I rested under His yoke, as he was guiding and teaching me along the way. And so, I marched on, obeying God’s will. Between working at Red Wing Shoes, running a house, including helping with taking care of Pat’s grand daughter and helping with on-line schooling, and doing several ministries, I was always on the go. My day usually started between 4 and 5 in the morning, when the dogs needed to be let out, which started my prayer time.

When someone asked for help, I never hesitated, assuming it was something God had sent my way, knowing He would give me the strength, resources and rest necessary to accomplish the task. My rest, my joy, came in doing God’s will. When God said go 1000 miles north to Kansas in the middle of March to pray for the healing of our land, I obeyed. We left late on a Thursday night, did His bidding and returned Sunday evening. When He said to get involved with GriefShare, and later DivorceCare, we did. When He called me 4 years ago to ministry, and I answered, He immediately began to equip me, and I was ordained May 30, 2021.

In the above passage, Jesus says that if we would surrender completely to Him, handing over all our troubles, worries, problems, yes our entire life, He will give us rest. He’s not talking about the “lie in bed” kind of rest. He wants something more from us. He expects us to do something. In return for surrendering to Him, He wants us to accept His yoke and place it squarely on our shoulders. In that surrendered position, He will then teach us and guide us. In that teaching and guiding, we will be released from the burden of our former lives. He now has our worries, fears and troubles on His shoulders, yet that burden is light to Him.

Next, we’ll take a different look at Kingdom Rest. Until then, Be Blessed!