I was spending some time with the Lord one morning not too long ago, when I suddenly saw a vision of a grassy meadow with a quiet stream running along side it. There was a nice tree there also. It was a picture of serenity, of rest.
The Lord spoke to me and invited me to rest there, to rest with Him. He proceeded to show me that everything kingdom related flows out of this place of rest. The vision He showed me may not be the picture He shows you but the point remains the same--we will know Him, grow with Him, be consumed by Him in a place of rest.
It wasn’t too long after that I had a dream in which I was in our “prayer room” and I suddenly saw words appear in condensation that had formed on the window. The words were, “Rest in Me.”
I’ve been getting messages and emails lately asking variations of the same question. The question is essentially, “How can I become everything I know God is calling me to become?” God is stirring people to life and that’s amazing! As they are being stirred they are realizing that there is so much for to Him and His life that they want to experience. That is also amazing. The question that logically follows is, “How do I get it?”
It’s a question I’m very familiar with. God continues to open my eyes to many parts of His kingdom I had no idea existed. That, or I just figured it was of the devil. But as I grew (and continue to grow) God surrounded me with amazing people with amazing hearts full of love for Jesus. As I talked with them and read their books, I felt a passion growing in me to experience what they’ve experienced. To travel where they’ve traveled.
I traditionally have been a very driven and task oriented person. God has healed a lot of that in me but sometimes it’s still my first reaction. When I want something I immediately try and figure out how to get it. This is why I’ve had to learn and re-learn the principle of rest over the years.
For me, and people like me, it doesn’t make sense to gain by resting. But then again, kingdom principles don’t make sense at all when approached from a world-system-perspective.
Testimonies are wonderful and I thank God that those whom the Lord has worked through have written books so that we can all be exposed to things God is doing. I think there are many times God leads us to books and people with the express purpose of opening our eyes to see that He is bigger than we thought. BUT…that doesn’t mean we can jump into those things right away.
Sometimes it does. Sometimes our eyes are opened to something greater and we instantly experience it. But for most I think it’s a slower process and the journey starts and remains in a place of rest.
In his book, The Longest Bridge Across Water, Jeremy Mangerchine has this to say about rest:
“Rest is a place every human desperately wants to visit. This place is safe, free of stress and uncertainty, removed from the pull of anxieties and agendas. It is soft and calm.”
We cannot arrive at the place we want by following a formula or striving. There is no quicker way to burn out than to take the burden of our spiritual development all on ourselves. In other words, if Satan cannot stop us from doing something good he will drive us in it until it destroys us. That is, ministering in response to an intense drive from within to achieve.
We need the intimacy of an intimate God. We get it in that place of rest. And the best part is that He is waiting to pour into us all that we desire because He desires it too. He desires it even more that we do!
So when we find ourselves in the place of feeling stuck and wondering what we can do to grow into what we see God doing all around us, may we pay attention to the signs pointing us back to the foundation. Back to the place of sweet, intimate rest. Let Him sweep you into all He has for you as you rest in His arms.
**Our Book, Marriage What’s the Point? One couple finds meaning in a crazy mess, will be .99 next Tuesday and Wednesday (4/29-30) This is the book featured on The 700 Club We will be posting it to our social media pages and having a contest with the chance to win a DeadRaiser DVD All you have to do to have a chance is share the facebook post on your wall. There will be a random drawing for the winner.**
Blessings,
Jesse and Kara Birkey
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