Wednesday, August 20, 2014

3 Things to Remember in a Time of Unrest


“Let the beloved of theLord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.”- Deuteronomy 33:12

A couple weeks ago, I found myself waking up at 2am and not being able to fall back asleep. I would be in bed looking up at the ceiling, looking around my room, trying to move stealthily on my side as to not wake up my wife, but nothing would work to get me to enjoy a couple more hours of rest.

I was thinking too much.

Have you ever had this experience? You know the one, where you’re thinking about everything and trying to figure out the outcome, or why something happened, or what if things don’t work. That’s what I had going on.

I was worrying about people talking about me behind my back, things that were being planned and whether or not they were going to work, finances, whether or not I remembered to take the dog out, and much more. It was unhealthy.

Some of the things that came to my mind were things I could control, but the majority of the thoughts were of things out of my control, and that bothered me. I was restless and I couldn’t get a grip.

Then, I realized, I had no reason to be restless. Christ had given me words for my restlessness and I needed to trust what He said.

So, here are the words that came to me and helped me get a grip…

1)      “I have come to give life and life to the FULL”- The enemy is going to try to wear me down. He is going to make me feel worthless and incapable. He will try to make me incapacitated in order to hinder God’s great plan in my work and life…if I let him! Christ’s message is of hope, peace, and rest. If I allow Him to work in and through me, then my life is going to be experienced to the fullest. Whether I succeed or fail; have friends or don’t; or have supporters or haters, Christ has given me a life to live for His glory alone.

2)      “Abide in me, and I will abide in you”- My shelter is not my job. My shelter is not my money. My shelter is not the people who cause me drama. My shelter is found in Christ alone. I need to live my life for His presence because He gave His life for my presence.  I need to find rest in Him for He is the only One who can truly provide it.

3)      “Don’t doubt me”- Christ had Peter walk on the water and sink right before His eyes. He had to ask him why he doubted. When Christ returned to His disciples after being crucified, they were scared and He responded with “Why are you troubled and why do doubts rise in your minds?” If He opened a door for me to walk through or gave me a thought to act on, then why do I doubt He is going to take care of me in the process? Things may not go the way I want them to, but I need to trust Him at His word. He will never leave me.

These are words we all need to hear when we are restless and worried. If we allow Him to do His work in and through us, then we must trust Him to be with us through it all. If we follow His lead, then we should follow His words.

His message is one of peace, love, and rest. We just need to trust it.

QUESTION: Do you fully trust Christ’s words spoken through scripture for your life?

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