What if restful thinking became available to you today? Would you grab on to it?
A dear friend was praying over me one day and told me that I would be coming into a time of rest. I believed that was prophetic, and as soon as I heard those words, I breathed a sigh of relief. Previously that year, I had lost my son and had been through so much pain and emotional hardship that the idea of rest sounded like a vacation to me. I wanted it. I needed it. Thank you God; please sign me up for that.
What I didn’t understand at the time was:
What does a life of rest really look like?
Did living in rest mean a break from all kinds of problems in life?
Did it mean doing less in life?
Did it mean taking it easy overall?
Through the next five years, God began to teach me one aspect of rest was being at ease mentally. I believe that there are layers to rest, and at this point in my life, rest was not about doing less, but about being restful in my mind no matter what came my way.
My typical worry-filled thoughts and reactions to problems seriously needed to change, but to do that, I needed to rest mentally, which equated to trusting God to care for me and provide for me.
This took the better part of five years to understand and develop. When God wants to give you something that is very meaningful in your life, it takes time. Often, we want to rush through growth, but deep and permanent things take time to grow and develop.
When we want to grow spiritually, we must also be willing to sit there with God, to unpack it, to water it and watch it grow.
– Bonnie Dorough
Truth growth takes time. We want instant, but instant won’t give you the results you really want.
We need to allow His timing to grow these concepts with deep roots, so that over time, we cannot be shaken. This in turn changes how we see things, how we think and how we approach life.
God can totally revolutionize how we act, think, and live by touching an area of our life in the most substantial way.
Is God wanting to show you how to rest mentally?
To rest in His presence?
To rest in His timing?
To rest in His provision?
Don’t fight it.
Make a decision today, to let God show you more of who He is and more of who He is personally to you. Does He want to be your provider, peacemaker, caretaker?
What aspect of God are you needing the most?
Perhaps what we think we need the most is just a symptom of a deeper and greater longing in another area. Allow Him to begin to show you that area and teach you how to walk with Him, learning bit by bit, day by day, until years down the road, you can look back at yourself and say, “Yes, I am in a new place. I think more peacefully. I walk with purpose. I know God loves me and will take care of me.”
Then, as the world screams louder, your rest in God and confidence in Him will drown out those sounds and cares, and you will smile and say, “My God is bigger. Always.”
Prayer: Lord, I want to trust you more and to see you as my caretaker. I want to learn more about what it means to be restful in my life. I ask you to begin to show me ideas and truths from your Word that you know that I need. Fill up the holes in my life with your presence and your fulfillment. Help me to be patient in the growing process, knowing that I will love the result of my growth in You and how I think, feel, and act will be renewed. I trust you to take me to the places that would benefit my life and your plans and purposes for me. You are a good God and I love you. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen!
