Not To Fret

Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter, The one that remains faithful. The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.  Isaiah 26:2-4 NASB

Each day begins with noise. The sound of an alarm, quickly overshadowed by the thought of the day’s to do list -  Not long after, our phone starts buzzing: emails, texts, notifications from social media apps. Even when the noise is not audible, we hear it in our souls—the push and pull of tasks. 

Holy Spirit teaches us wisdom and discernment He invites us to refuse the taskmasters of this world, to turn down the internal volume in our minds, and to hear the Voice of another…the voice of the Lord, the Good Shepherd. It’s not that we abandon our jobs or ignore our responsibilities. It’s that we learn to walk through the day with Jesus leading us.

What if we start today by quieting our hearts and hearing the call of Jesus?

Matthew 11:28-29 NASB Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Listen closely. Do you notice how Jesus calling us to His side? 

Come to Me; walk with Me; work with Me; keep company with Me…rest with Me… note too that rest is not simply ceasing from work. It isn’t a state we achieve or a goal we grasp. 

Rest—true rest for our souls—is found when we take Jesus Christ’s offered hand! when we declare Jesus is our risen Saviour, when we fix our eyes on Him, when we lean in close, and His life becomes ours. He is our rest.

My friends, let Jesus be your Shepard.

Imagine Him leading you to each part of your day. Imagine Him walking with us through dark valleys. Imagine Him preparing a feast for His people even in the darkest moments. 

What is heavy on your mind, the burden of financial obligations? Or a friendship or relationship that is uncertain? Maybe it’s concerns about the current state of world affairs that have us feeling overwhelmed. 

Wear Faith! Jesus knows each of our concerns. He is attentive to our heart and knows what we are worried about. And nothing that threatens to sink us is trivial to Him. Hallelujah God! Thank You!

The Bible teaches that worrying too often is unfruitful. It cannot produce the things we are hoping for. Only God can. Only God can work in the midst of every situation for His glory and our good. 

Holy Spirit teaches this, and calls us not to fret but to be still and wait. I understand waiting is hard to do. Think of it like an activity even, Fretting, it is active; it gives us something to do, something to say, or to talk about with others. And yet when we feel overwhelmed by life, there is only one thing which is essential: sitting at the feet of Jesus.