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Rest in Me from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

This is a word for me, but I'll share it with you. I've had a rough week. Our main mail server here at Refreshing Hope has grown so slow it was becoming unusable and began randomly corrupting email accounts. Millions of emails pass through that machine, and it is mission-critical for us. It is also a temperamental, hateful beast with hundreds of gigabytes of data that knows how to torture you. I dreaded rebuilding it, but it had to be done. 

So I bought new hardware, installed a new operating system, and began migrating all the data over Sunday after church. It spent about 4 hours copying files, then crashed and became unusable. Well, it was "almost" usable, so I spent hours wrestling and trying to recover it, but in the end, I had to wipe it and start completely over. This was the beginning of a week-long struggle. 

I would get so close to having a service-ready mail server, but inevitably, something would stop it from working at the last minute. Like a corrupted email account causing the service to run for thirty minutes, then crash mysteriously without leaving a clue as to why. Then I would have to start over.

Things like this went on for five days. It was frustrating. I felt trapped in a scene from the movie "Groundhog Day" where the same things happened repeatedly. Finally, I got all the accounts repaired and synced them to the new server. I had it stable and online late Thursday night. It had taken five days from morning to night of solid hair-pulling frustration. 

When I finally sat down to pray about a message this week, I only heard silence for a while. Then I felt like a warm heavy blanket was gently placed on my shoulders, and He whispered, "Learn to Rest in Me." 

It put me in tears. The Lord completely understood what I was going through and what I needed. That is exactly spot-on accuracy. I had become so frustrated with the situation that I had lost my inner peace in Him. Something we should not do, but is far too easy. Our peace quietly slips away when under pressure, and we don't even notice it. 

(Matthew 11:28–30 NKJV)  "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

"Rest" is best described as "ceasing from activity that results in a feeling of refreshing tranquility and an absence of tension or worry." 

That sounds like a bit of heaven on Earth to me. "Refreshing tranquility with an absence of tension and worry." The Apostle Paul learned to be at peace while their ship broke apart in a hurricane. The Lord Jesus slept peacefully in a small fishing boat during a storm:

(Matthew 8:23–26 NKJV)  Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

We are more like the disciples in the boat than Jesus: "Lord, save us!" Yet, when the Lord's presence is with you, you can have this same rest, just as He told Moses:

(Exodus 33:14 NKJV)  And He said, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."

You can find rest and peaceful tranquility in His Presence, wherever you are. Moses had to do the work, but the Lord made him succeed. The Lord supplied all Moses needed to accomplish the task he was given, including wisdom, people, supplies, food, water, and gold. 

(Isaiah 40:21–22 NKJV)  Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

There is so much in the world that brings stress, fear, and despair, but we are not those who shrink back. We will learn to rest in the Lord. To walk in His peace while chaos swarms around us like bees. We have the glorious hope of eternal life and rest in heaven, but we can find rest in the Presence of the Lord right here and now. 

(Hebrews 4:9 NKJV)  There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.

Unbelief brings turmoil, but it is countered by our faith in God. We must believe that He rewards those who diligently seek Him and that He will take care of us (Hebrews 11:6). Like Jesus asked the disciples: Why are you so fearful? Where is your faith?

When we learn to trust Him completely, our fearful thoughts will vanish. As David said, I have put my trust in God. What can man do to me? (Psalm 56:11). When we have questions, He has wisdom for those who take the time to ask.  

(2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV)  For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

As we go through conflict and obey God through the testings of life, we learn to deal with situations as He would. We take on the mind of Christ by letting His thoughts become our thoughts on Monday as well as Sunday. Following Jesus is an ongoing, everyday adventure directed by the Holy Spirit. Learn to rest in Him.

You can pray this with me if you like: 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please teach me to find rest in You when pressure comes. Forgive me for seeking You last instead of first. It's never my intention to. I put my trust in You. Put me where I need to be. Teach me what I need to know. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!