Posted by Bryan | Comments Off

Peace…

cozumelrock
Originally uploaded by pastorb007.

It does not mean to
be in a place where there is
no noise, trouble or hard work.
It means to be in the
midst of those things and
still be calm in your heart.
- Unknown

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Posted by Bryan | Comments Off

Sleep is definitely not over rated

I have heard from many readers of this post that you have been praying for me since reading my last post. I must say that after writing “I am so tired…” sleep immediately came. It was not something that came over a few days. It was immediate.

I am learning to enjoy His rest. It is an ongoing journey and I will not relent until I am completely immersed in His presence. Every day (and night) is a new adventure in His presence… an adventure of peace. There is still more to come…

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Posted by Bryan | 1 Comment

I am so tired…

I continue to be frustrated by the scripture in Hebrew 4:1-13 (TMB) that reads:
1 For as long, then, as that promise of resting in him pulls us on to God’s goal for us, we need to be careful that we’re not disqualified.
2 We received the same promises as those people in the wilderness, but the promises didn’t do them a bit of good because they didn’t receive the promises with faith.
3 If we believe, though, we’ll experience that state of resting. But not if we don’t have faith. Remember that God said, Exasperated, I vowed, “They’ll never get where they’re going, never be able to sit down and rest.” God made that vow, even though he’d finished his part before the foundation of the world.
4 Somewhere it’s written, “God rested the seventh day, having completed his work,”
5 but in this other text he says, “They’ll never be able to sit down and rest.”
6 So this promise has not yet been fulfilled. Those earlier ones never did get to the place of rest because they were disobedient.
7 God keeps renewing the promise and setting the date as today, just as he did in David’s psalm, centuries later than the original invitation: Today, please listen, don’t turn a deaf ear . . .
8 And so this is still a live promise. It wasn’t canceled at the time of Joshua; otherwise, God wouldn’t keep renewing the appointment for “today.”
9 The promise of “arrival” and “rest” is still there for God’s people.
10 God himself is at rest. And at the end of the journey we’ll surely rest with God.
11 So let’s keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out through some sort of disobedience.
12 God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. 13 Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word. We can’t get away from it–no matter what.
Why does a scripture about entering His rest frustrate me so?… I guess it is because I have not yet personally discovered His rest. Allow me, if you will, to write out loud my internal conflict. If God Himself is at rest and has already created heaven and earth. He has sent His son, Christ, and reclaimed the keys to death, hell and the grave. Christ took stripes on His back so we can receive His healing… It has already been done.

So, why do we continue to fight for something that has already been won? Why do I work so hard and put so much time into completing a work that was promised long before I was even gleam in my mother’s eye?

Sleepless nights consumed with uncompleted tasks and yet to begin projects cause a self inflicted bewilderment in my mind. Why can I not say “no?” What is it in me that feels the need to “make it happen”. I understand the command in Romans 12 to be “transformed by the renewing of my mind”.

It is often not the struggle of lust or greed or envy or strife. Rather it is the failing to rest in what He has already done. I am no better struggling with the neverending drive to complete, fulfill or defeat the enemy who has risen against us. Why are we fighting battles He has already won? Instead of this tug-of-war with our spiritual enemy, would it not benefit me to simply stop, quiet my spirit and rest in what my Heavenly Father has already done for me? If it is finished, why are we still fighting?

Shouldn’t I be rejoicing that Christ has returned with the keys to death, hell and the grave? Instead of spending so much time trying to anticipate the next attack of our enemy and waiting in a defensive, circle the wagons posture of constant guard, why can’t I just be still, quiet and grateful without feeling like I must always be in a battle?

I am sure Job often felt like giving up. Everything kept getting stripped away. Layer by layer, his life was reduced to Job, his wife and God. No amount of fighting would have saved his family. God had given the enemy permission. Job simply declared, “even if He killed me, I’d keep on hoping. I’d defend my innocence to the very end.” Job cried out to God and said, “Please, God, I have two requests; grant them so I’ll know I count with you: First, lay off the afflictions; the terror is too much for me. Second, address me directly so I can answer you, or let me speak and then you answer me. How many sins have been charged against me? Show me the list–how bad is it?” It sounds to me that Job was pretty frustrated. He probably had a few sleepless nights. In the end, Job did not defeat his enemies. God did. And it was said of Job that in all of his afflictions, he did not curse God.

I crave rest. Sleep. A mind that is at peace. I am not tormented with evil or negative thoughts. There are just way too many. At times, they crowd out my family, friends, conversations and the voice of God. I am still learning to quiet my spirit and be still before God and my family. I desire a humble and contrite heart. I do not want to be a warrior who is always in battle. If I could have my own desires, it would be to represent the God of peace that is referenced over 70 times in the New Testament.

I want to be like King David when he said in Psalms 56:
8 You’ve kept track of my every toss and turn through the sleepless nights, Each tear entered in your ledger, each ache written in your book.
9 If my enemies run away, turn tail when I yell at them, then I’ll know that God is on my side.
10 I’m proud to praise God, proud to praise GOD.
11 Fearless now, I trust in God; what can mere mortals do to me?
12 God, you did everything you promised, and I’m thanking you with all my heart.
13 You pulled me from the brink of death, my feet from the cliff-edge of doom. Now I stroll at leisure with God in the sunlit fields of life.

What I want immediately is to know such peace that I can sleep.

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