Rest in the Lord

Psalm 37:7 – Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him…

Jesus and His disciples got into a ship. After the ship left the shore, a terrible storm came and the ship was covered up with waves. The disciples heard the sound of the wind and they saw the waves coming inside the boat. They were afraid, but Jesus was sleeping on a pillow in the stern of the boat.

James, the brother of John, was killed by the sword and Herod planned to kill Peter next. Because Peter had escaped prison mysteriously the last time, four soldiers were assigned to him. Two were handcuffed to him and the other two guarded the door. Peter wasn’t worried or scared. Acts 12:5-6 tells us that while the church was praying, Peter was sleeping.

How could they both sleep at a time like this?

Just as His word is settled in heaven, God wants us to be settled with the word He gave us. God wants His children to rest. To rest means to not be moved by what’s moving all around you. God doesn’t want you to be worried about anything. In fact, when you are anxious, the writer said it’s for nothing (Phil 4:6). You have been worried and scared about what MAY happen when God wants you to believe what He said WILL happen.

In Isaiah 30, the Assyrian army was going to start a war against Judah. The people of Judah panicked and began seeking help. It was good that they recognized they needed help, but they sought advice from everyone except God. They began loading their donkeys to go to Egypt – the same place God delivered them from – to pay the Egyptians to protect them. Fear and panic can cause people to make costly mistakes. They were about to pay for something that God could have given them for free. If God had delivered them from the Egyptians, could He not deliver them from the Assyrians? All God wanted was for them to trust in Him and wait on Him.

Jesus rested because He knew that He couldn’t die before His time. God sent His Son with a purpose and he couldn’t leave the earth until that purpose was fulfilled.

Peter rested because of the prayers of the church and because he remembered what God did for him the last time he was in prison. Yes, this time was different because he was handcuffed to the soldiers, but if a tomb couldn’t hold Jesus, then prison couldn’t hold Peter. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is the same Spirit that would raise Peter out of his situation.

Psalm 1:3 tells us that we are like a tree. You became a tree because of a seed (word) that was sown, but in order to grow and be immovable, you must feed yourself daily with the word of God because when things begin to start falling, the word of God will still be standing.

If you are not rooted in the word of God, you will be just like how the disciples were on the ship. When the wind moves, you move – in fear, unbelief or doubt. The disciples became the very thing they feared. They were like a wave of the sea that was driven and tossed by the wind (James 1:6).

God wants His people to rest in His word. When the economy fails, when there is talk of war and terrorism or when a new disease arises, God does not want His people to be easily moved, but He wants us to stand still and see His salvation.

Rest in the Lord…