Keep Praying, Keep Watching for the Son to Rise

The weather forecast has most of us holding our breath. For the south, we’ve had a pretty hard winter. The cold temps have dipped and stayed low for a long time. Not much clear bright sunshine to speak of. 

When winter first comes we meet it with excitement. We can do this. The wood pile is full, the jackets and boots are taken out of storage and we anticipate changes of snow to play. But eventually winter is just winter. No longer fun, no longer tolerable, we’ve had it. Snow is messy, the wood pile is waning and the sun hasn’t shined much at all. We need spring. We need some sunny days and warmer temperatures. We’re tired of bundling up everywhere we go. 

Just as we prepare for winter, we also prepare for hard times. We know the Word and we speak it into our own hearts with confidence. We can do this. We can get through it. Sometimes though, the hard, cold reality is the chill of hard times gets to us. Spring gets delayed and our hopes get delayed. We were willing to believe God would get us through, that we’d have enough spiritual insight to get by, but now we’re done with it. Chilled to the bone, we want the Son to shine again. We want Jesus to come and take away the pain and make things new. The anticipation has given way to heartache. 

Maybe you’re there. You prayed, you quoted Scripture, you held tight to God’s hand and you bundled up in His love. But you’re tired of it. The prayers are waning, the hope is diminishing and even though the Word forecasts that better days are ahead, you’re beginning to doubt it all. You put all your hope in the forecast, but it’s not happening and you’re weakening. Where is God when the winter times linger, when the answers to prayer don’t come quickly and the chill of the present situation is starting to cause frostbite to your heart and mind?

Oh beloved, this is the time to hold tighter to God’s unfailing promises. His forecast is the only one you can rely on. He promises that better days are ahead, but we think that means everything is going to be fine quickly. Sometimes winter lingers far into the days that should be sunny. But God says you will be better. You will overcome. You will be victorious. You will live in the warmth of His light and His love. Keep praying, keep quoting Scripture, keep looking for Him. He’s your answer to hard times, bad outcomes and worse weather. He is the One who makes all things new. Even when the spouse stays gone, the money stays low, the friends stay gone and the child stays wayward. Even when you see no sign of the Son. Especially when you grow weak and weary and unsure if spring’s answer will come.

Whatever you are hoping for, praying about and trying to get through, God will see you through. Don’t give up now, for just as the forecast says warmer days are ahead, you know that the answer is just ahead. Just as you cannot choose the exact day that warm weather and sunny days will return, you cannot choose when God answers or how He will answer, but answer He will. The situation you are presently in is just a passage where your faith is growing and your knowledge of God is growing and your hope is becoming more steadfast. 

God loves you and He’s for you and that’s why you can endure the winter of waiting, knowing that God has an answer to your heartfelt cries as you look to Him.

Philippians 4:6-7 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 6:18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

James 1:6 But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.

Isaiah 60:19 No longer will you need the sun to shine by day, nor the moon to give its light by night, for the LORD your God will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.

I Thessalonians 5:16-18 Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

You Can Find Sweet Rest

I’ve been having a little trouble sleeping lately. Not a big deal, but I can’t seem to sleep through the night without waking up, sometimes for an hour or so.  I’m not upset or overly thinking about anything, just wide awake.  I am ready to sleep all night again!  With a music app on my phone I have been known to turn it to praise and worship, put it under my pillow and listen.  Doesn’t take long for me to be back asleep.  Soft, soothing music is good for my spirit and helps me slip back into dream land.

Rest is imperative for the human body. Without comfortable solid sleep, the day ahead can get weary. We may find ourselves grumpy or even find our joints and back sore. Wrestling with the bed to get settled in just right is tiring.  Being too hot or too cold will also cause discomfort and wakefulness. There are a lot of outside elements that make or break good sleep.  Rest makes for clearer thinking, better outlooks and more stamina to make it through the day.  I remember my mother telling me, when my kiddos were babes and sometimes didn’t sleep good, “If a mother can get a good night’s sleep, she can handle pretty much anything during the day.”  So, so true.

Believers need rest too. Faith rest is absolutely important for the spirit of a believer. If you fret and worry and carry the burdens of the previous day, you’ll find yourself oh so tired.  If you go to bed with baggage, either yours or what others put on you, and you don’t lay it aside  you will stay fatigued.  With spiritual fatigue comes physical fatigue. Weariness of heart makes for a weary mind which makes for a weary body.  Unless a child of God learns how to rest, they’ll be perpetually tired. They won’t be able to handle the day’s events – upsets, sorrows, discouragement, and more. It will just snowball and you’ll find yourself wakeful, fretful and tired.

Oh beloved, are you need to rest?  Are you handle all your problems alone? Run to the Lord, who wants to take your burdens, who wants to give you the rest you so need, who wants to bless you with comfort and peace! Seek His Word and see – He promises to give rest to you.  He promises to take your burdens and carry them. He promises give you every answer to every problem, so that you don’t have to wrestle with them! Beloved, you do not have to carry everyone’s problems either. Just carry them to the Lord in prayer and rest in the promise of His answer as well!

God loves you and He’s always with you, working things out for you and those you love, so you can rest! Resting in His promises is your birthright and His delight. And that’s all that really matters.

 

Psalm 91:1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

Isaiah 30:15a This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength.…”

Matthew 11:29 Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Psalm 4:8 In peace I will lie down and sleep, for You alone, O Lord, will keep me safe.

Psalm 62:5 Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. (NIV)

Exodus 33:14 And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.”

True Rest is Found in Christ.

It’s the week of the big move for one of our daughters and her family.  They didn’t have all their things moved the other night, so they stayed over with us. That night Blakely woke up disoriented and frustrated. When I got him a drink of milk and tried to take him back to our bed, he said “I want to sleep in my own bed”.  I thought it was cute and was going to take him to the extra room but he went back into my room. He refused to get in the bed though, and slept on the floor for a couple of hours. The next morning his mother told me she had asked him to lay down and that they would pick him up and put him in the new bed. He had gone to bed thinking he would wake up in his new room so he was of course disappointed.

No one wants to go to bed thinking something wonderful is going to happen only to wake up to disappointment, discouragement or a severe change of plans. While the adjustment can be hard, the Lord ultimately has good plans for you.

Oh beloved, is your mind reeling this morning?  Are the circumstances you are waking up to beyond your control? Maybe your heart is broken or your feelings are hurt.  You had a plan. You felt good. Things were looking up. You’d like to refuse to move on.  Never fear! Though your outward circumstances can change in an instant, your inward state of mind can remain steadfast, peaceful and calm.   Rejoice as you run to His Word and see that all He asks is for you to follow Him. That is where True Rest is found! He loves you and He has promised to be with you all the days of your life.

 

I Peter 1:3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by His great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation!

Psalm 91:1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Psalm 138:8  The LORD will work out His plans for my life— for Your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for You made me.

Psalm 112:17 They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.

Hebrews 6:19 This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.