God’s Rest

Finding Rest Along the Path

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. Hebrews 4:9-11 ESV

After traveling twelve hundred miles for a family reunion and then staying a week or so with old friends, on our final day we stopped to visit Steve and his wife Diane. Our kids grew up together with theirs, and though we had not seen each other in a long time it felt like yesterday that they had been going to youth group together. Knowing that Steve had been battling prostate cancer and now that he has elected home hospice care, we had tried twice before to go, but between various nurse’s visits and his not feeling well, it hadn’t worked out till our final day. We really didn’t know what to expect, but when we stepped into Steve’s room we experienced something totally unexpected: the peace of God.

After a moment of greeting and finding places to sit down, Steve greeted us with a smile. Of course we asked the silliest of questions to ask a dying person, “How are you Steve?”

But Steve didn’t seem at all uncomfortable to answer and he knew we meant more than just a report on how he was feeling. So he smiled and said, saying, “I’m okay. I have peace. I know I am going to be with Jesus, but I am sad for my family. Please pray for them, especially Diane.”

Feeling that genuine peace emanating from Steve, we began reminiscing, sharing photos of our grandkids and exchanging stories. Of all the dozens of people with whom we had spent time with on our trip, no one seemed more at rest than Steve. He wasn’t worried about the future, the bills or what he could accomplish. He just knew, without need of explanation, that everything was in the hands of God. Half an hour later, as we stepped out of the doorway, got into our car, and drove away, we left Steve behind, but the reality of his trust in Jesus journeyed home with us. Now in my quiet times, when I am alone, Steve’s smile, and absolute certainty of God’s grace, challenge me to also rest in Christ along the narrow path that He has called for me to walk.

Come!

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money,
come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Isaiah 55:1 NIV

When we lived in the mountains of Northeast Pennsylvania we had two Elkhounds: named Sonya and Thunder. Though they were sisters from the same litter, and looked alike, their personalities were completely different. Thunder loved nothing better than to sit with me and let her ears be scratched, but Sonya was always looking for a chance to escape and would usually entice Thunder to run after her. Late one snowy Winter night, I cracked the front door open to see how much had fallen, when Sonya suddenly shot out between me and the door, with Thunder close behind. “Sonya! Thunder! Come back!” I shouted after them, but rather than turning or even slowing down, they hurried off into the darkness. As Elkhounds I knew they weren’t in any danger from the cold, and since they were ignoring me, I simply shrugged my shoulders, closed the door, flicked off the light and went to bed. In the morning you never saw such a meek couple of puppy-dogs, curled up by our doorway and eager to be let back in.

Sometimes our walk with God looks like that night on the mountain. God loves us to come sit close to Him. He wants nothing more than to care for us and keep us safe in His presence. In today’s verse, He calls to us, “Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters.” But sometimes our heart longs to run, and when we do God doesn’t chase after us. We think we are getting away with something, but in reality, we are trading a safe warm home for a night in a snowstorm of doubts, fears and false promises. How amazingly good it is that God doesn’t lock His door and vow to never speak to us again. Instead, when we limp home with our feet frozen from the cold, and huddle up outside His door, He calls us again, but this time He says, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest!” Can you hear Him calling? Are you ready to listen to His voice? The moment our heart says, “Yes” we will discover a rest that He paid for on Calvary and the home that He has prepared for us to stay in forever!

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-31 NIV

Photo by Mike Klokov on Pexels.com

God’s Secret Place

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment 
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1 KJV

I love hiking up into the woods, and finding a quiet spot to just sit, and listen to the songs of the birds, the buzz of a stray bee or the rustle of small animals in the brush. For me that is my secret place, but on the day that Jesus died, the kind of secret place that needed to be found, was not a wooded glen, but rather place for Him to be buried. So, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took down the body of our Savior and wrapped Him in linen cloths. Then they carried Him to a tomb cut out of a rocky hillside and gently laid Him on a stone shelf. They hurried to finish before sunset, because by the Jewish law they must finish before the Sabbath began. Last of all they quickly rolled a stone over the entrance and headed home. But that was not the end of the story. Jesus wasn’t placed in His tomb because He had failed, Death had not defeated Him, neither had sin won. Instead, behind that stone, in the secret place, He rested in the shadow of the Almighty. He had given His life into the hands of His Father, and now He simply rested until the moment when the stone would be rolled away. Maybe, the shadow of death has fallen across your path today, and you feel forgotten, broken and defeated. But just as the darkness of the tomb was not the end of the story for Jesus, so it is also not the end for anyone who will put their trust in Him. He has chosen a Secret Place for us for a season, so that in its quietness we may hear HIs voice, inviting us to trust Him and to rest in His shadow.