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Rest from Stress from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

Today I want to talk about resting from stress. Jesus Christ, who lived on Earth as our example, lived a simple life of trust and peace. When He and the disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee on their fishing boat and a great storm came, Jesus slept soundly in the bottom of the boat. That is what I call resting from stress. Let’s read that passage and let it sink into our spirit:

When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Matthew 8:23–26 NASB

Jesus rebuked the storm, and the disciples for waking Him up, then probably went back to sleep. The storm was a stressful situation for the disciples, but not for Jesus. What was the difference? Jesus said it was their small amount of faith, that the disciples had “little faith.”

Something that I want to make clear is that we can go past the disciples “little faith” today for we have their experience to build on. We have the Holy Spirit who came down when Jesus went up. We have the New Testament and their lives recorded as our example, while they were pioneering the way for us. It was difficult for them learning even who the Holy Spirit was, while battling ideas like “Can gentiles be saved?” or “Do men have to be circumcised in order to be saved?” but by doing all of that, they paved the way for us to go farther. What have we done with that?

The Bible portrays Jesus as lovingly calm and patient. In Luke 9:55, when a samaritan village did not welcome them, James and John offered to call down fire from heaven and burn them up, apparently to save Jesus the trouble. Jesus told them: “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”

Jesus did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. What a statement, when looking back over the long and bloody history of the church, who has often tried to destroy anyone who disagreed with it. Destroying men’s lives did not come from Jesus.

A few chapters after calming the storm, Jesus said this in Matthew 11:28:

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28–30 NASB

Rest for your souls, something that is amazingly rare today. Is your soul at rest, or are you constantly stressed about what may come tomorrow? Are you terrified when the storm approaches and yelling “Jesus! I perish!” or have you prepared yourself by praying and already told the Lord about the things that are worrying you before the storm appears.

I find that trouble often avoids those who are prepared for it. We once took a course by Dave Ramsey on managing your finances, and the first thing that he advised was setting aside an amount of money for an emergency fund. Oddly enough, when we did this, the emergencies stopped happening. He said it was the same for him.

The reason that Jesus was able to sleep in the boat during a storm was that He had already prayed that day and He had that inner peace. He was prepared for whatever came His way. There is a direct link between peace and trusting God. When we have a lack of peace in our life, it comes from a lack of trust that He will take care of us. Consider Isaiah 26:3:

You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3 NKJV

This describes how Jesus was able to sleep in the boat during a storm. He completely trusted God to take care of Him. He knew that He would not be leaving the Earth until He had fulfilled His time here. He was not concerned with tomorrow or things beyond His control. Jesus prayed. He spoke in faith. He trusted the Father.

I am not saying that we are a failure if we can’t walk on water, but Jesus did rebuke the disciples for their “little faith” because apparently they were supposed to have more of it. So learn to pray and trust Him to help you, before you actually need it. Be flexible. Don’t tell Him how to bless your plans. Instead, get in line with His plan, then do your part no matter how small, and let Him take care of the rest. You don’t have to worry about ten thousand things that you cannot change. Pray, rest, and take comfort knowing that you are not alone in this.

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please open my mind to understand Your word. I give You my heart and I choose to trust You today. You are my peace. You are my rest. I am not alone for You are with me and that gives me great comfort, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

Note: Good morning and God bless:)! We so appreciate y'all and pray blessings over all of you who encourage and support us each week!