Finding Hope in the HeavinessSample

Finding Our Way Through Rest

Hello my dear friend, can I pray for you today?

Dear Jesus, we all need hope and encouragement, and You are the God of both. I pray that you encourage my friend today as together we put all our hope in you! Amen.

Have you ever come to a place where you told God, “I have had enough!” I certainly have felt that way, and we are not alone.

Elijah had just come off a mountaintop experience. God showed up in a powerful way, and Elijah routed 400 prophets of Baal. With the victory still burning on his heart, a threat from Queen Jezebel sent Elijah running in total fear. What a sad turnaround. I Kings 19 says, “When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.” (I Kings 19:3-5, NIV)

In my own battle with depression there were moments when I was exhausted, and instead of choosing rest and sleep, I pressed harder into work and ministry. What a mistake! Instead of choosing the rest God offers His children, I chose to try and work, pray, preach, serve and lead my way out from beneath the weight that was crushing me.

I am so thankful for a friend who said, “If God offers rest, why don’t you take it?” At that moment, I chose a different route and chose to rest. It is interesting that the longest and most detailed commandment from God is the one about Sabbath and rest. Genesis 20 says, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Genesis 20:8-11, NIV)

In my depression, instead of choosing rest, I chose to continue in my exhaustion until God said, “Stop.” So I made a decision to get off the treadmill of performance. I rested in God even though my perfectionist work ethic screamed at me to get back to work. I learned God’s principles of “Divine Opposites” that says when your flesh takes you one direction, God often wants you to go the other way. Think about it. My heart says, “Be alone.” God says, “Stay connected.” When your flesh says push, God says rest. So I rested. I changed my pace. I heard a different cadence to life and God met me there.

My friend, depressed or not, can you rest in God today? Can you believe His promises when He says, “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest?” (Matthew 11:28, NIV)

I pray that you say – YES!

You are a miracle!

Grant