Finding Elusive Rest

Why does it seem that in our world, finding rest is like trying to find a proverbial needle in a haystack?  Many believe that rest means the absence of work, so they work really hard so they can go on a week vacation and rest.  It takes 2-3 days to get their brains out of the mode of handling everything before finally they seem to slow down, only to get thinking about going back to work and back to a busy life.  Still others, play so hard on their vacation that you wander if they need a vacation from their vacation.  If rest means the absence of activity, then we are truly a rest-less society of people.  In Hebrews 4 rest seems to be a state of being with God and entering into a Sabbath rest that God Himself entered into on the seventh day of the Creation.  We are told that God prepared this rest for believers and that we enter by faith, resting from our own works.  I have heard from national and international speakers the value of rest:  Leif Hetland, Bill Johnson, John Sheasby, Bob Hazlett, and Jack Frost.  Yet to be totally honest, this rest seems more elusive than it did when I first heard of supernatural rest.  When I seek to rest, trusting the Lord in the moment, it seems that every anxiety, care, worry, insecurity, and concern in life comes flooding into my mind.  In our society, if vacation is not the focus of a place you find rest then the ultimate rest seems to be extolled as retirement.  Yet I know people who are in retirement, who worry about being on a fixed income, have trouble caring for their house, and seem to face a stream of health and medical issues.  The belief that I can rest when there are absence of issues, concerns, pressures, or struggles in life is a myth that fuels our culture to endlessly search for elusive rest.  I admit that I have tasted of rest, where I seem at peace with God, peace with myself, and okay with the world.  Then rest seems to sprout wings and fly off like lotto winnings for those rare people who hit the jackpot (most are broke within 3-5 years).  As I listened to Leif Hetland, who has seen 1 million Muslims come to Christ, extol the power of rest, which is a place of trusting God and taking your place of sonship I intrinsically knew there is a dimension of life with God that I have only touched.  This rest must be found in trusting in the finished work of Christ, because it is very clear that the world's version of rest either is non-existent or doesn't last.  Orphan hearts don't have rest because they have no home, they must get everything for themselves, must protect themselves, and must perform to be somebody.  Jesus in John 14:1-3, says that He is going to prepare a place for us- for us to have a home in the Father's house.  In Ephesians 2:6, we are told that we are seated "in Christ" in heavenly places- sons and daughters of God have a secure place in Father's love.  Trusting in ourselves does not lead to rest but to ever increasing anxiety, stress, concerns, and finally being overwhelmed.  In Hebrews 3 and 4, we learn of the greatest barrier to entering into God's rest that He has prepared for the people of God- Unbelief.  Trusting in all that Father has done for us through the finished work of Christ is the only way to experience the rest that is promised to us "in Christ".  Hebrews 3 and 4 are clear that the fruit of unbelief is disobedience but the chapters are not focused on disobedience as the problem but the root, which is unbelief.  If I am not trusting God in an area of my life, through an orphan heart I will be trusting in my own resources or strength.  I now see why in Hebrews 4, we are challenged to be diligent in faith to enter into rest because there is so much restlessness and even restlessness in the Body of Christ.  Yet I believe there are dimensions of the grace of God we have not experienced because we have not entered into this promise of rest.  Fortunately, we have Holy Spirit who leads us into all the truth and brings to remembrance everything Jesus has done on our behalf, He like a Sherpa on a mountain expedition who faithfully will lead us to the summit of rest.  We must depend more on our Sherpa, Holy Spirit, than in our own understanding or ability to bring us to this place of rest.

Journeying into His Rest,

Bret

A Desire Fulfilled is a Tree of Life

David, the man known as "a man after God's own heart", shares that if we will delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4).  David is a man that is full of passion, known as a warrior and a worshiper, he is a man acquainted with desire.  Jesus most common question as people approached Him was in the form of, What do you want?  Unlike the religious people of His day, Jesus not only awakened the deepest desires in men's and women's heart but He often challenged them to hunger and thirst more.  You know you are in the company of people who are tapped into the Old Covenant (of rules and laws), when everything is about shoulds and shouldn'ts.  People who live under the Old Covenant or religion are afraid of desire because if they stir up desire, then they believe it will stir up sin and then things will be out of control.  People in this camp live in fear of their deepest desires, whereas Jesus and David invite us to desire but there is guidance.  David encourages us to first have all of our desires come under the Greatest desire of our hearts, which is to worship and delight in the Lord.  Jesus gives us the Great Commandment in Matthew 22:37 because He knows us not because He is attempting to control us, "And he said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'"  I find it interesting that so many times, to the world, Christians are known for as to what they are against or what they don't do.  The world seems to be fed up with a Christianity that kills desire, is controlling, and lacks passion.  Maybe this isn't the real Christianity or the real Jesus, just maybe they have rejected the false Jesus that the Body of Christ has portrayed.  Yet in Haggai 2:7 which prophesies of the coming Messiah it says, "and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts."  Jesus truly is the Desire of All Nations, it does not say He is the controller or dictator of all nations but they deeply desire Him.  I love how Jesus in the midst of ritual that was supposed to be rich with prophetic meaning of what was coming that had become empty ritual, stands up and gives a powerful invitation.  "Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink." (John 7:37)  A very different invitation than the religious elite were giving in His day, or I dare say than religion is giving today.  The religious invitation may go something like this, "All those who want to suppress, stuff, and control the raging inferno of desire within come sign up because we will show you how to become numb and lifeless like we are."  If they would have just made this clear before we came to a certain church or religious group it would have saved us any number of years of frustration, slavish service, and ultimately heartbreak.  The New Covenant in Jesus Christ is very different, God is not afraid of our deepest desires but actually invites us to bring them to Him, so that they can be fulfilled.

Full of desire that God is fulfilling,
Bret

A Safe Place in Father's Arms

I believe all of us desire a safe place, where we can be completely vulnerable even weak and yet completely accepted.  Often it seems as if the world is a minefield, where there is no place safe and without trouble.  I have found in 16 years of doing counseling, that this is one of the most important environments I can partner with God to create.  Safety and security is one of the core needs of every human being, I know this because as people get older and more fragile security and safety become very important.  On Maslow's hierarchy of needs, safety and security are foundational needs after basic physical needs (food, clothing, and shelter) then after safety and security comes love/belonging.  God invites us into place of abiding and dwelling in Him, a place of not only safety and security but also love and belonging.  Does your heart need a home, a place you know you are safe, loved, and accepted?  I have seen many people, including myself, who because of lack of love and safety in parents love decided to build their own walls of self-protection and security.  These walls seek to keep out those that are not safe or threaten a person's safety, yet these walls are not discretionary and even begin to keep out those we long for connection with.  A person may seem secure outwardly, yet inside there is a little boy or girl searching for a safe place for their heart.  Insecurity, anxiety, and worry can indicate that the safe place a person has built is their own creation and not one created by God.  In Psalm 91 we are invited to dwell in the shelter of the Most High, to dwell is to live and have our heart anchored in this relationship that is our safe place.  I have realized that I have not had a continual safe place for my heart.  I have looked to trust in my walls, in others who would be safe place for me, or in financial security.  Yet all of these have failed to continually meet my need for a safe place for my heart because Father has invited me to look to Him to be the safe place my heart has longed for.  It is a painful but truly reality, that what we construct to meet our needs must be torn down or decay so that we can receive the revelation of what Father wants to be for us.  Why were so many drawn to Jesus when they were hurting, in need of healing, failing in meeting their own needs, or simply had no other place to go?  Notice that the "religious elite" of the day were not a safe place, since they were constantly pointing and judging those they determined to be "unclean".  Religion does not have a safe place for our hearts, like the condemning and accusing finger of the stern and cold nun it demands that we be perfect for acceptance.  Religion always points to the place we are lacking demanding that we strive, work harder, or change what doesn't measure up to the standard.  Religion is an endless taskmaster with no end in sight since we are such "sinners" that need to be made holy, yet all the responsibility to be made holy is put on the person.  Jesus walked in stark contrast to religion, He accepted and welcomed people that religion would not even get close to.  At the core of religion is those who don't have a safe place in Father's arms, they do not have the freedom to be weak, flawed, and in need.  Religious pride is one of the most dangerous belief systems because they are often claiming to represent Jesus and carrying out their deeds in His name.  Those who are caught up in religion have no safe place for their hearts, as evidenced by striving, lack of rest, wearing masks, and constantly hiding sins or weaknesses.  Jesus was so magnetic to those who were hurting, hungry, and felt inadequate, they often would crowd Him and barrage Him with their constant needs.  Jesus was a safe place but not for religion and those who were the religious elite, they spied Jesus as a trouble-maker, agitator, and One who threatened their whole way of living.  Look at the list of who Jesus welcomed- a leper, an adulterer, a woman who had a long list of relationships, drunkards, Samaritans (the unfit race), woman with an issue of blood, a woman who was of ill-repute (some say a prostitute), a humble Roman Centurion, a religious leader who would only see him under the cover of darkness, a corrupt tax collector who had stolen money, a man who was a paralytic and couldn't even get to Jesus on his own, and blind men who couldn't even earn a living on their own.  Not a list of of the who's who of society, there seemed to be nothing of outward value in these people yet they had a hunger for a safe place and longed to find it in the arms of the Messiah.  It is no wander I have been drawn to those that are hurting, in need, have problems they can't fix, and are hungry for more.  Jesus was drawn to them to and they were drawn to Him.

Dwelling in my Father's Arms,
Bret

God of All Comfort

I am amazed at the power of meditating on Scripture, then the Holy Spirit begins to reveal the living word (rhema) which pierces the heart.  As I have been meditating on 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort," I was hit by the reality that this perfect Father wanted to comfort me in all the places in my heart where I lacked comfort.  When Jesus says in John 14:18 that He will not leave us as orphans, one translation of orphans is comfortless.  This perfect Father sent Jesus to be Emmanuel, God with us, so we would not be alone in our pain or struggle and then Jesus says He is leaving the earth but has asked the Father and He is sending "The Comforter".  Why do we need Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to be comforters because we live in a fallen world where people will sin against us, have sinned against us when we needed comfort, or will sin against us when we are going to need comfort.  We are a planet of orphans who have been separated from the Trinity and lived in our own self-comfort or used things for our comfort.  It seems a bit of an overkill that all three members of the Trinity would be our comfort, kind of like the biggest holy hug you can ever get.  Yet Father must see the deep need of our hearts for comfort, where there was darkness, loneliness, abuse, neglect, or all kinds of pressures.  He knew that He was sending Jesus to save an orphan planet that didn't know how to be loved, our extravagant Father went over the top in His generosity to reach us.  There was a man who was probably 6'5" and 300 lbs, a bear of man, yet from his heart of love when he embraced you it felt as you if you would get lost in the safety of his embrace.  I honor this man, Howard, who is now with the Lord who showed me a slice of who the Father is through his warm embrace.  This man was clearly larger, more physically powerful, and more mature than I but His strength was used to bring comfort, acceptance, and protection.  We have the most powerful, accepting, and big God yet He is our Father.  God is clear about who He is from 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, He is the God of all comfort.  This promise is not conditional about God being the source of comfort when we deserve it, when we are not being cry babies, when we have prayed enough, but simply that He is the God of all comfort.  He is also called the Father of mercies, or in another the Father of sympathy (pity and mercy) and the God (who is the source) of every comfort.  To have a revelation of Him as the God of all comfort, belief that He is the God of all comfort must arise and then stepping into choosing Him in the place where you need comfort.  Where in your soul is there a wound of the lack of comfort that needs the balm of His healing comfort?  Often what we find in these places is the band-aid of self-comfort, it might be food that has become the comfort for our loneliness, it might be shopping that covers the lack of feeling loved, or it might be the pit of self-pity that is the band-aid for the soul pain of loneliness.  Our own choice of comfort is like a wall in front of the door that leads to encounter the God of all comfort, we must be willing for this wall to come down so we can step through the door into the reality of His comfort and Presence.  Comfort is not just an idea or concept, but the reality of Heaven's embrace to experience in relationship with Him.  Will you allow Him to be your comfort, to say yes to Him touching the places in your soul that you have sought out counterfeit comforts?  The Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) are waiting to bring you into their Heavenly Hug and as Revelation 21:4 says, "and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be anymourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”  This is bringing the reality of Heaven into our everyday life, then we become a person positioned to broker His comfort to others.

In the God of all Comfort,
Bret