One of the most quoted verses in the scripture, chapter 23 of Psalms is one of the first memorized, as well. It was for me. I tucked it into my memory when I was eight, reading it from my little zippered Bible. That’s a lot of years ago.
Having it stored in memory is different than believing it, though, and that’s the question: DO YOU BELIEVE IT?
Do you believe that as a follower of Jesus you have all you need? Do you believe that as a disciple you are given rest and sustenance?
More often, we give lip service to these concepts then go off and try to handle things on our own. “I believe, now let me go get what I need and find my own rest and take care of my own thirst.”
Then rest becomes an unfulfilled desire and there’s no end in sight for the thirst of your physical, mental, emotional, spiritual self. That’s a problem.
Fortunately, there’s a solution to that problem: GO BACK.
Go back to the truth of the scripture.
Go back to the One David believed in.
Go back to the rest, security, and sustenance of God.
Take all the anxiety of trying to meet your needs on your own and lay it at His feet. Apologize for having tried to take His place as the Provider of all you need. Then…
Lay down and rest.
Feel the stress melt away.
Enjoy the sensation of anxiety’s talons releasing.
Relish the flow of joy and peace entering in to fill the spaces that your striving has left empty.
Here’s the trick, though. You can’t think of this moment as only a respite. It must become your way of life. This letting God lead, letting Him choose, letting Him have control must be your way of life.
There it is, isn’t it? We don’t like to give up control of anything. Even when the truth is we didn’t have control of it anyway. Let go, my friend.
The things you are striving for, the hope you’re killing yourself for are found in God alone.
Today is an exceptional day to step into His presence to lay down all the God-sized stuff you’ve been trying to carry, so you can lie down in the beautiful pasture of His presence and drink from the stream of life given by Him.
Coffee, Bible, Journal.
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