02/09/2020
Does the world weary you, and weigh you down? Well, it is rare to find a peaceful refuge in this place of frothing humanity, and sin, but that is exactly what Jesus offers us. Just as He stilled the waters He also settles the souls of those who believe in Him, giving them peace, and in so doing providing them rest. Are you tired and weary today, and in need of relief from the burdens of life? Then Come to Him!
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28 ESV
There are certain times and places in each of our lives that we dream of, and recall with great fondness, wishing we could return to them permanently. They are different for each of us, and if lucky, we might have more than one, but they are always those restful, and happy places where we have felt at peace, surrounded by joy, and released from the cares and burdens of the world. Take a moment and find that place, or the times, that have comforted you in this way. Then, know that Jesus offers you a place of peace greater than this where you can abide throughout eternity.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
John 14:27 ESV
I remember a particular time as a teenage boy when my father took our family to the mountains in Virginia to stay the weekend in a secluded cabin there. We were surrounded by the mountains, covered with tall grey hardwoods that had lost their leaves, and interspersed with dark green conifers. It was late fall, and although the days were still warm, the nights were beginning to get cold, and the wind would occasionally blow frigid across the forest floor as it rustled the leaves and sent them scampering down the old logging road behind the cabin. They would race along this seldom traveled way, tickling the moss that covered it as they danced beneath the canopy of limbs, and finally settled as a brown mat surrounding the trees. I loved to walk this road as it climbed gently up the valley into the mountains... it was a place of peace and rest where my burdens and troubles were forbidden to follow me.
Do you have a memory like this that you retreat to; one that comforts you? Maybe it is a particular Christmas, or a place you would wile the time away with someone you love. Whatever that time is, or wherever it might be, this is the place you retreat to when the burdens of the world are weighing you down, and you need relief. What is your memory, your place, and who joins you there; anyone? Have you let your mind travel there recently? Well, as wonderful, restful, and peaceful, as that memory is... what Jesus offers you is far greater than that.
“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7 ESV
You are probably basking in your memories right now, and wondering what could be better than the restful time and place you recall. Well our experiences are all we have to go on, so the best memory we have is always bound by what we know, and have lived. By way of example... I told you of one of my restful places, and how amazing it was, but one night after we had prepared dinner on the wood burning stove in the kitchen, stoked a good fire atop the coals in the potbellied stove in the living room to keep us warm through the night, and retired to our beds... something amazing happened. We awoke the next morning to a winter paradise. Everything had been quietly covered by a fresh white blanket of snow, and the boughs of the evergreens bent down low to kiss the winter carpet under the heavy weight of the wet snow atop them. I stood frozen in awe on the porch with my arm full of firewood, as the beauty of that moment overwhelmed me. The wind had calmed, the dead leaves now hidden, and trapped beneath a covering of virgin white snow. All was quiet... every would-be sound muffled by the hand of God as it hushed them; and His palm Rested across my mouth, and captured my breath, holding it there until at last the Lord Let it race out, and breathed it back into me with what now was a roar in the midst of this, His silence.
You see, every memory we have is governed by our experience, and what we now believe to be the pinnacle of rest, and peace, is governed by what we have lived... even the awesome silence of God can hold a secret path for us, as yet untraveled. The peace and rest that Jesus promises us is like this... it is eternal, and boundless. Are you ready to hear it’s hush, to witness it from a creaky wooden porch, To stand still within it, to witness death now shrouded by white, to feel the hand of God hush your mouth, to let His awe take your breath, and return it to you in a gasp of wonder? If so, then let Jesus take your burden, and receive His rest in return.
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
Romans 5:1-2 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the peace and rest you give us in your Son Jesus Christ! Thank you Holy Father for the mighty rush of the wind when you pass by, but most of all for the hushed silence as you settle down over us. We call you magnificent, great, wonderful, glorious, but all these things we know of you are no more complete than our knowledge of the silence, rest, and peace we have received. You take us higher up onto the mountain, and walk deeper into the valley forest, with each passing day. We thank you for sending your Son to lift our burdens and give us rest, peace, and to fill us more with these blessings with each silenced breath that you capture, and then return to us anew. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who knows no limits, not even in your silence. Great is your mercy, and amazing the rest and peace you allow to fall over us. Praised be your name that we sing aloud, and pray in muffled awestruck wonder. All glory is yours Father, and we yearn for the moment when, in eternity, we find our journey into you is never ending, and your glory to be forevermore.
“But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him"—”
1 Corinthians 2:9 ESV
Rich Forbes