No image captures the peace of body, heart
and mind like that of a sleeping kitten. A sleeping
cat portrays totalabandonment of all cares, total
relaxation, and even an expression of joy as
the purr of contentment builds inside the furry creature.
Reading Isaiah 30 is a a mixture of hope and
sadness. It is a picture of people who have
created grief for themselves and will have none of God's
solutions. God's solutions and promise
of rest are grounded in repentence and trust, not in our
determination to control our own world or
flee our situation.
15 This is what the Sovereign
LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:
"In
repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness
and trust is your strength,
but you
would have none of it.
16 You said, 'No, we will flee
on horses.'
Therefore you will
flee!
You said, 'We will
ride off on swift horses.'
Therefore your
pursuers will be swift!
17 A thousand will flee
at the threat of
one;
at the threat of
five
you will all flee
away,
till you are left
like a flagstaff on
a mountaintop,
like a banner on a
hill."
18 Yet the LORD longs to be
gracious to you;
he rises to show you
compassion.
For the LORD is a
God of justice.
Blessed are all who
wait for him!
No rest is found in our determination that
we are right... that we have all the answers, or in our
determination to fix everything ourselves. Peace
and rest, and even SOLUTIONS (salvation) are
found in giving up having our own way and turning control
over to our Father. Only in this way will we find
anything near the contentment we see in the form of a
sleeping kitten.
I pray I will be one who will live in this promised
rest, granted only to those who WAIT on the
Lord!
It is a discipline to replace my worries with patience
and praise and resting in Him, but it a sacrifice
that pays rich rewards. I don't think many of us
ever arrive at a state where we never fail in this giving
up control to Our Father, or living in the REST He
promises to us. It is a continual, daily exercise
of
discipline and faith. If we beat ourselves up for
failing in this, we only dig ourselves deeper into guilt
and worry. When we realize we have fallen into the
"I'm the one who's in control here, and I've got to
fix all this," it is better to just pick up where we
left off and begin again, relinquishing all our cares to
our Father and taking hold of the rest He offers.
It is interesting that He finds our unwillingness to do
this as a stubborn, sinful thing. We may see it as
a virtue, a sign of being dependable and
responible. God sees it as rebellion!
Here are some scriptures to ponder... promises of the
peace of mind, rest, and salvation found in
releasing our cares to Him.
Exodus
14:14
The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be
still."
Psalm 46:10
"Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."
Psalm 27:14
Wait on the LORD: be of good
courage, and he shall
strengthen thine heart: wait, I
say, on the LORD.
Isaiah
40:31
But they that wait upon the LORD
shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with
wings
as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they
shall walk, and not faint.
The Bible is full of such promises. Do a search in
various versions for the words rest, peace,
quiet, confidence, and salvation. You may be
surprised how often this comes up in scripture.
If only it didn't take so many of us a lifetime to figure
it out!
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