Is obedience a source of rest?
When I pick my daughter up from school she loves to surprise me. She hides behind the same chair every day and then pops out and says surprise. I do my best to ask surprised and then she laughs and laughs. Yesterday I went to pick her up she was hiding as usual. She didn't jump out as fast though and I got to where I could see her before she had yelled surprise. She melted into a puddle on the floor. I had seen her upset before when she wasn't able to surprise me, but this was a little more than usual. She wouldn't help clean her toys up and I ended up half pulling her out to the car. She is crying and sobbing telling me, "Daddy my heart is breaking right now."
I suggest she might need a nap when we get home, and she doesn't like this at all. So I let her know if she can't calm down by the time we get home she will need to take a nap. She gets her sobs kind of under control and then she tells me what's really going on. She had stayed at school later than usual which means she had to stay through rest time. Lorelai is not good at rest time. She has too much energy and doesn't like to slow down. So she doesn't sit still and usually gets in trouble with the teacher. This time she was convinced she had been told by the teacher, "because you are not obeying and resting you won't be able to go to any more parties at the school."
I tried to reassure her I was sure this was only for the day. Then she would burst into bigger tears and cry out, "you don't believe me, I'm telling you the truth and you don't believe me." So much agony so much sadness and all because she couldn't obey and sit still for a little rest time.
Hebrews chapter 4 tells us about the rest available to us. There was a rest offered to the children of Israel, way back when they were to enter the promised land, but they didn't choose to obey God and accept the rest he had for them. They heard the message of rest but did not believe it was true. "Those people in that country are too big, we can't do this." Hebrews goes on to say there is a rest available to us now. Today is the day of salvation to accept the gift of Christ and rest in obedience to him. Believing the message of the gospel is true and acting upon it by approaching the throne of mercy and grace with confidence when we are in need.
I know the war I have with my conscience when I am not in obedience. It is the constant struggle with sin. Hebrews says Jesus understood this battle with temptation and he battled the evil. Sometimes though I feel like I'm on the other side battling the good. I know the good I should do, but I don't do it. Instead I do the evil I want to do. It is in these battles that obedience truly brings rest. When I choose obedience to Christ in these moments and go to the throne of grace and mercy for strength there is great rest in my mind, soul, body, and emotions.
Sometimes it seems God just really wants me to sit down on my mat and take some rest time. Just a little obedience can go a long way. It sets my mind at ease I can find rest and peace. And you know what, there is a big party coming at the end where our struggle with sin will be no more and we can truly live in the rest of God. Can you imagine sabbath rest and communing with God every day? The beautiful thing is it can start here and now. Even this time writing this blog is a moment of rest for my weary soul.
May you take time today to sit still, rest, and know he is God. Hear the message of the gospel and believe it, through our obedience to him we will find rest for our weary souls. Wrestle no more with sin but find mercy and grace when we are in need from a savior who understands because he as been there.
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