Carol J German

Each day has its own trials, and in those trials you try your best to keep the faith. What am I to learn Lord? What are you showing me? How would Jesus respond? You ask the Spirit to give you a nugget of truth from His Word. Refresh my memory Holy Spirit. You are needing some direction, and you move forward in your day with God by your side.

As the days go by, your faith gets stretched in ways that you may not be prepared for, and you find yourself tired, dismayed, and even discouraged. Thankfully, God understands what you go through, and He gives you many rest areas along the way to give you rest, hope, and encouragement for your weary soul.

While God offers rest, He does not make you take it. He lets you decide if you want to pull over and lay your head down on His lap for awhile. You would be wise to take God up on His offers. He has good reason to set you aside for a time being.

You may be needing physical rest. Some healing within your body needs His tender, loving care. I am in this rest area. I have been for over five weeks. I dislocated my shoulder and the healing time is rather slow. God has slowed me down, probably to teach me how to walk at His pace. I tend to take His hand and try to move Him along quicker. I struggle in the idle waiting time as He prepares things for me behind the scenes. As I wait upon the Lord, I have opportunity to go deeper in faith. I spend time with Him and His Word and He helps me to take His hand as we walk together.

You may be needing a mental rest. If your job is taxing or a relationship is a bit unstable, you are probably needing to pull over and allow God to refocus your mindset. Discernment is the remedy for mental anguish, and it is found as you rest on His lap reading His Word. Jesus lived out the proper priorities which aided Him in abiding with His Father.

Are you needing some rest from emotional stress? The circumstances you are facing are hard to manage. I have great news, God offers remedies to handle such maladies. His offerings are found in the Bible. The Holy Spirit is so faithful to reignite your heart to worship the Son of God as you praise His holy name.

You may be needing some spiritual rest. This is the greatest rest area that God offers His weary child. He gathers you into His bosom and reminds you that you are loved more than all the stars in His universe. He simply holds you close. As you drink in His presence, He refills you with Himself. Your soul once again becomes satisfied and content. You are ready to continue serving your Lord and Savior.

God does offer a rest area that many choose to ignore. Somewhere along your journey, you have wandered away from Him. When He tries to talk to you, you run away. You avoid what He wants to tell you. For some reason, you have become afraid of the truth. His words are convicting rather than liberating, so you hide. You have become unwilling to listen to any correction that God wants to make you aware of. You have forgotten that He is for you and not against you. Repentance is the only way to get back on track. He patiently waits for you to return. He prays that you do.

Yes, your faith will get stretched. Yes, you will find yourself in places that you didn’t expect. Yes, you will experience injustice, unfairness, cruelty, for this world is soaked in sin. Whatever you face, God is with you. As He sends you out to be His light, you are a lamb being sent out among wolves; see Luke 10:3. All in all, God guides you through the madness of worldly ways. He sets you apart as ambassadors of love and grace to a dying world. Will you go? For also in Luke 10, Jesus says that “the harvest is great, but the workers are few.”²

Stop and appreciate the rest areas that God offers you. Your soul desperately needs them. You don’t want to be a sojourner who never stops to refuel. Don’t be one who veers off the eternal highway, not even realizing it. God’s church is full of sleepy drivers. It’s time to rest, recharge, and awaken for God has work for you to do.