"Jesus, I am resting, resting in the joy of what Thou art. I am finding out the greatness of Thy loving heart." If you grew up going to church, you probably sung this song about a million times, but did you ever stop to think about what it really meant? Cause I sure never did. Until last weekend.
This past weekend, my sister and I, and about 30 other women from her church, headed down to Edisto Island for their yearly women's retreat. I was a little nervous about the trip, I only knew a handle of the girls, but I was excited to meet more people and see what God had for me in store. The theme of the weekend was "Yes, and I will rejoice." We were focusing on being joyful in times of sorrow.... well, if that wasn't perfect for me, then I don't know what is.
I had a fantastic weekend! We had great speakers who really spoke from their heart. It made me realize that it's okay to be sad, but I should find the joy in those sad times. God does not promise that our lives are going to be perfect and that we are always going to have to super easy, but He does promise to be with us. That, right there, is enough reason to be joyful. But not only were the talks great, social time was so awesome! I met so many sweet women and loved being able to relax, drinking coffee, and talk while looking over the ocean.
On Sunday morning, we spent some time worshipping and praying together. We sang "Jesus, I am resting" and for some reason, this time, it stuck with me. I could not get it out of my head and I couldn't stop thinking about what it meant to be resting in Jesus....
For quite some time now, I had been struggle with what God was calling me to do with my life. I was so ready for His plan to match with my life. I kept saying, "God, just show me. Show me and I'll do it." But the truth is, I was not ready to change. I was not ready to be uncomfortable. And what it took me a while to realize was that
God isn't molding His plan to fit our lives. He's molding our lives to fit His plan.
Well... that's harder. To truly rest in God, we have to give him full control. And we have to be completely willing to change our lives, even if that means we are uncomfortable. Ultimately, we are having to trust in the Lord, which is always easier said that done.
Another misconception about resting in God is that this means that life will slow down. We think that our relationship with the Lord will come easy if we are resting. After all, resting is suppose to calming, relaxing, and even sleeping (my personal favorite), but when God talks about resting, He's not talking about those things. We are still going to have to work on our relationship, everything is not going to come easy. But our hearts will be at rest. We will trust that the Lord is there and working in us. We will be resting in the truth that we are not alone.
We are not alone.... That is comforting. Knowing that what ever hardship we are going through, we can rest in the knowledge that we are never alone. I don't know about you, but that calms me.
Don't be afraid of the unknown. Because God knows.
Don't be afraid of being alone. Because you never are alone.
Don't be afraid of what's to come. Because God has a plan.
REST, rest in the great arms of Jesus.
^I know, I know, super corny, but it's so true.^
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