Rest

Luke 8:22-25

Jesus Calms the Storm

 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.

 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
   He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.
   In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”

I have noticed I sometimes live in a way where I treat Jesus as some sort of "Christian genie". I'm leading a live that revolves around me and my plans. I grab Jesus periodically and I pull him into my life so he can arrange it the way I think it needs to be arranged. 

Jesus is in the boat with his disciples. He is asleep when a "great storm" arises. Storm gets calmed it almost ends great till Jesus questions their faith. Why?

Because he became their "genie".

To me this passage says, leave the chaos. Go rest quietly with Jesus. (He's sleeping, that's how bothered he was by the storm, he was not unaware of it) Therefore making him center. I'm leaving what I have perceived life and who God should be. I am going to match my heart rate with his and literally nestle up with him, rather than grab Him, pull Him into my mess and say "fix all of this so my heart rate goes down."

What causes us to rest? Is it circumstances in life or is it Jesus Christ?

I know it's Jesus but how do I allow this intimacy?

It requires a recognition that my rest, my fulfillment, my peace in life is not contingent to my circumstances. Rest, fulfillment and peace is found in resting in the "hull of the boat" with Jesus, especially in the middle of a storm.

Even in that image of laying next to Jesus resting, how easy is it to "nudge" him in my anxiousness and wonder when we're done "resting". He's just saying, "rest". As soon as I attain this posture I am in the center with Jesus, no longer on the outside calling him out to my storm and chaos. When I'm resting I can hear his heartbeat.

Rest is only found in the hull of the boat.

Everything is contingent upon the the time I rest, listen and take instruction.

Passivity before him.

Rest. Rest. Rest in God's love. The only work you are required now to do is to give your most intense attention to His still, small voice.

 Madame Jeanne Guyon

Hello..again

It's been almost a year since I have updated my blog. Why have I returned? Simply because I love to write. Expressing my thoughts through words is healing for me. For the handful of folks that may click their way over to my blog, I hope to provoke thought in the simplest way by the words that flow from my keyboard.

Life is the craziest journey our minds can comprehend, it's all we know. It's a journey that nobody asked for but everyone will complete. My desires rest in doing life well. To be proud of my failures that fuel me to change and to rejoice when all the beauty that God has wired me to be becomes a natural outflow that brings glory to the only one that matters, my Lord.

My Lord, who have you created your children to be? Your children are created for virtue. Virtue that lies in your truth and purity. Your children are created for greatness, to be great for your namesake in a desperate sea of insufficiently. Your children are created to be a vessel for your miracles and wonders far beyond what the human mind is capable of understanding.

I have had a difficult time swallowing all that lately. Am I really made for greatness? Is this "virtuous" woman I desire to be far out of reach? Why is insufficiency all to familiar in my life? I think I know the answer and it's that on most days I'm not willing to fight in the battle I was chosen to take part in.

Where is my focus? Where does my identity lie on the days where God seems so out of reach? Am I seeking to be unconditionally attached to my Lord or do I seek to be satisfied away from Him?

Probably one of my most favorite quotes, because it is never dull to my ears...

"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him." -John Piper