My Pastor Must Have Read My Blog Post

Resting on a beach is nice

Surely he had read my thoughts about needing rest.  It is my one word for 2012.  So when I settled into message one in the new sermon series Soul Detox, I was astonished and thought...."He must have read my blog".  In church this past Sunday, I realized my one word theme for 2012 was more than a word, it's a lifestyle.    


Maybe you struggle with finding rest too.  Perhaps I am not the only one looking for it.  Maybe you are not brave enough to write it like I am.  When I looked at the sermon talk notes, I immediately started filling in the blanks of the points to ponder.  Scored 100%.


Knowing the answers makes me think I am on the right track.  Now it's just putting the rest I have found into practice.  That's the hard part of faith.  Reading God's word is one thing but applying it to your life is another with all our hiccups and hangups.  One thing I do know though that if we seek God, He will be found.  


It's hard work to breath in our culture and not being affected by it.  It's life that God didn't call us to be a part of...this is not our home.  He did call us to be a light to this toxic dark culture we live in.  We are all searching for something and in case you don't know it yet....you aren't going to find rest in our culture.  

There is only one place to land when looking for rest and that is in God's lap.  

Ps. 62: 1 My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.  

Take five minutes and be still. I am challenged by the "still" part. Not that i haven't stopped to absorb God's Word, but it's the being silent and still that continues to change me. I find silence awkward, it's not comfortable. I need to grow here. 

I need to sign up for a double shift in silence.

Ps. 131:2 But I have stilled and quieted my soul.....

Take a knee and wait.  Here's another area where God has been growing me.  In his waiting room, there are many numbers that haven't been called yet.  So I continue to wait, take His number, sit in His lap and wait some more.  

There are some things where God is waiting on me.  Wait...I know there is.

Ps. 37:7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.....

Honestly we don't have time NOT to be still before God.  It should be our first step out of bed, the first part of your day.  Give God your fresh and best.  Here's something you may not have realized, that God will handle the rest of the world while you are taking your five minutes.  

Be still for God, and before God.  

I wait for the Lord, my soul awaits, and in his word i put my hope.  My soul waits for the Lord more than a watchman wait for this morning....Ps. 130:5-6

Don't forget who God is.  Reflect on God's goodness, reflect on what He has already done.  Gather at your water's edge and think about His great goodness and mercies which are new each and every morning.  As you remember His faithfulness, pick up a small smooth stone and tuck into your pocket. Think about how God is for you and never against you.  Remember....who God is!  

Remembering God should cause us to pause for five minutes.  

Need a place to start?  Pause in Psalms...