Rest

For the past few weeks, this blog has been addressing the overall topic of Walking with God, and today we will continue along this line of thought.
Zephaniah 3:17- The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”
            I love this scripture because it clearly explains one of the truths about your relationship with God. He is with you, He is for you, He loves you, and He wants to bless you. He doesn’t rebuke you, but instead sings over you with joy.
            What would happen if we actually partnered with this scripture and allowed God to quiet all the stuff that goes on in our lives? We have so much noise and distraction around us these days, and our society seems to encourage even more. There is so much indignation in our world today that it is nearly impossible to have a civil conversation anymore. We don’t listen, but instead simply try to make people agree with us, even when we know we don’t have all the facts ourselves. It is far too easy to get consumed with being critical with everything around us, where we cry out for “justice”, never realizing we are really just throwing a tantrum because we haven’t gotten our way. Our phones feed us such negativity, that we end up joining crusades against it, missing the whole point of this scripture. We think it is our job to fight against all the devil is doing, constantly missing the heart of God to rest in Him.
            Bob Jones prophesied that the decade of 2020-2030 would be a decade of rest for God’s children. How interesting is it that as soon as 2020 began, chaos and noise seemed to explode all over the world? Fear has been prominent worldwide, and it is difficult to see a real difference between Christians and non-Christians. Oh, the issues clearly define sides of arguments, issues, and politics, but Fear motivates both sides. This prophecy, however, describes God’s people as people who rest in the midst of chaos and injustice, because they trust in God.
            Zephaniah prophesied about an age of rest, when God would give rest for His people, and they would simply listen to Him sing over them. The other day, I had a revelation about Adam. Adam was created at the end of the 6th day, and that little bit of information is huge. He was created at the END of the day. So his first real day was day 7, God’s Sabbath. He was the last thing God created. I have a question for you: What did Adam see God do on his first day of existence? Answer: Adam saw God rest. He did not see God do any work! Adam was created into an inheritance of rest, and when he sinned Adam left God’s rest. I have a second question for you: What specifically caused Adam to leave God’s rest? Answer: Genesis 3:10. Adam told God, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” This tells me that Adam said Fear caused his relationship with God to break. Fear causes us to leave God’s presence and damage our relationship with God. Equally, Loving God, trusting Him, and resting in Him brings great reward. As scripture says, “God rewards those who diligently seek Him.”
            When Adam let fear get between him and God, he transformed from someone who never needed anything and lived in God’s presence into a man struggling to just stay alive. Adam went from joy and rest to fear and toil.
            Jesus came to bring us back into the 7th day, a day of rest. Hebrews 4:1-3a says, “Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enter that rest,…”
            We have been given an option to enter in to His rest, but we cannot bring anything with us into it. Truly, we have to leave everything behind us in order to enter His rest.
            In order to walk with the Lord, daily, we need to stop fighting the devil. Stop. He is already defeated. Rest in God. You don’t have to fight, and you surely don’t need to argue or get people to believe you. You need to rest in Him. I need to rest in Him. God made us to rest, and He is calling each of us to join Him in resting. It’s interesting; day 7 of creation is the only day that didn’t have an evening and a morning. I believe that means He is still there, resting and enjoying His creation. So stop what you’re doing and ignore “how you feel”, and focus/behold Him, and enter into His rest, because without it we look like everyone else.