Daily Prayer Guide - Saturday April 4, God Promises to Give Us Rest
Deuteronomy 33:12
“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him,
for he shields him all day long,
and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.”
Psalm 62:1
Truly my soul finds rest in God;
my salvation comes from him.
Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
There is nothing like being at home, unless you’re ordered to ‘stay at home’. Our homes are places of refuge and rest, until you’ve been cooped up for a while. In these days, our schedules are ‘different’. More of us are working from home and homeschooling for the first time and occupying ourselves in new ways. We have more opportunity to get rest and now, maybe more than ever, we realize there is a difference between rest for our bodies and rest for our souls.
We deal with new and different levels of anxiety. Should we leave our home to go in search for the highly prized toilet paper? What happens if I do, am I exposing my family to this dreaded COVID? Should we go for a walk or let the kids play with the neighbors? They are longing to get out. I still have to go to work, but I am afraid I am exposing my family. We’re getting sleep, but why am I still tired? I’ve lost my job due to this virus and I can’t get another one right now, how long will this last? Will I be able to pay my employees; is there something I can sell to keep this all going?
Our minds run full steam when we are facing new challenges. Our hearts are conflicted with this new ‘normal’. Even when I am staying home, I seem to stay as busy as I ever was, and not sure I am accomplishing all that much.
Even though we have a ‘Stay at Home’ order, we are tired. Our souls are tired.
In the midst of this we must remember God has promised to give us rest, rest for our souls, at the deepest, most central part of who I am. Where we need the rest the most.
From the beginning, God set rest into our life journey, but we often drive right by that sign. He reminds his people throughout their experience with him that he provides us rest, but we so easily loose sight of it. We confuse eight hours of sleep with actual soul rest. Notice in these promises, God is offering us rest for our souls. We know our souls have been at rest when we can see the circumstances of life and recognize God’s hand in the midst of it. We know we have found soul rest when the joy of our soul is renewed. A rested soul delights in God’s gentle and humble heart.
“Most of the things we need to be most fully alive never come in busyness. They grow in rest.”
― Mark Buchanan, The Holy Wild: Trusting in the Character of God
― Mark Buchanan, The Holy Wild: Trusting in the Character of God
“In a culture where busyness is a fetish and stillness is laziness, rest is sloth. But without rest, we miss the rest of God: the rest he invites us to enter more fully so that we might know him more deeply.
Rest for our souls is experienced in relationship with him. Take some time to be with him. When was the last time you had a cup of coffee with God, and just breathed? Take time to listen to him speak into your heart through his Word. Enjoy the rest of worshiping & praising him for as many ways you have seen him this week. Lay on the floor and listen to the same song as many times as your heart needs. Where physical rest takes 8 hours, how much time do you need to find soul rest?
As we begin to pray today, take a moment and breath, 3 deep breaths and realize he is with you.
· Thank God that he wants you to rest in ways that go beyond a nights sleep.
· Thank him for caring for you.
· Ask him to help you experience deep rest for your soul and renew you for the day.
· Ask him to give rest to those who are anxious in this time.
Father, Thank you that you care deeply for us and renew our hearts and minds in rest. Thank you that in rest we experience your love and salvation of our souls. Please help us make the space to enter into your rest and find the strength our souls need for these days.
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