Quieting Our Souls

"The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."  Zephaniah 3:17

Have you ever felt super stressed out?  Have you ever had a HUGE deadline, or had to do something you were afraid of, or do you have a pressure-filled job?  The world we live in is very much pressure and money driven.  So, how do we find peace and rest for our souls in these types of pressured environments? 

I love the verse above.  There is so much to meditate on.  The prophet Zephaniah is talking about what God is thinking about Israel.  Though they have been away from God, He plans to straighten them out a bit, and then bring His love back to them.  "He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love."  Isn't that such an incredible statement?

The prerequisite for this "quietness through love" is humility.  It says in the previous verses,  "Those who are left will be the lowly and humble, for it is they who trust in the name of the Lord.  The remnant of Israel will do no wrong; they will never tell lies or deceive one another. They will eat and sleep in safety,  and no one will make them afraid."  (v.12-13)

If we try and try and try in our own strength, we're living in strife and flesh.  We won't experience "rest."  But, if we are able to humble ourselves and put God first, He will provide rest and quietness for our souls.

Are you able to receive God's quieting love?  Spend some time with Him today, and allow Him to quiet your soul.  There is no greater refreshment than being filled with Him. 

Working in Rest

"'There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD.'" -Leviticus 23:3

Our world is crazy. Literally, crazy. We wake up, get ready, eat breakfast, go to work, go to lunch, go home, workout, watch tv, do homework, feed the kids, and do it all over again the next day. It's a wonder we haven't turned into pieces of metal machinery! But even in the midst of work and stress, there is still a way to find a place of meaningful rest in God, devoid of stress.
 
My dad (Os Hillman) has said, "A dead man can't have stress." That's an interesting concept. If you're dead to something, you certainly can't have any stress. And you're most likely very at peace. When we get to this place of complete trust and dependence upon God for our outcomes, that's when we know we have died to ourselves. We don't worry. We don't fret. We do things with integrity. We do them with excellence. We do them within the boundaries God has set for our lives. But, there is no need to "worry ourselves to death." Why? We have already "died".
 
After the Isrealites left Eqypt, they had to depend on God completely. They were no longer slaves to Egypt, or to the world's way of thinking. They had to learn how to depend on God for everything. They had to learn how to be sons and daughters, and have peace in God's provision for their lives. This is a paradigm shift. This is called receiving grace. There is nothing we can do apart from God. Why do we think that we can? We only stress ourselves out further by thinking that we alone are the solutions to our problems, and we can make everything happen on our own.
 
There's a great book called Margin, which highlights the state we're in, and how we've lost the "Margin" in our lives. I encourage you to read it. It cites very specific reasons why we've lost the "Margin" or extra buffer of time and resource in our lives, and how we can get it back, without losing our life's efficacy.
 
Are you able to work in rest? If not, ask God to help you. He desires for all His kids to have peace in the midst of everything. This is how He can tell us apart, as true sons and daughters of His.

Everyday Miracles

 

“You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.” -Psalm 77:14

Have you ever had something miraculous happen to you?  We tend to think of miracles as big things such as winning a million dollars or getting healed from cancer.  When these types of big things happen, they are incredible!  And we should give God the glory.  But too often we forget to remember the everyday miracles that God puts right in front of us. 

We miss getting in a car accident by just inches, or, we gain the courage to try something new.  We find the perfect dress for the perfect occasion (for girls), or a butterfly flutters across our path – these are many a small miracle that we tend to take for granted.

The Bible says that not one sparrow falls without God knowing about it. ”Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.”  -Matthew 10:29

Things that may seem small really are miraculous. It is a miracle to me that we have so many jobs in America, even if the unemployment rate is high.  It's incredible that my Father in heaven takes care of my mom everyday, and there isn’t more crime and hated among people with everything negative that’s happened to each of us.  The presence of love is a small miracle in itself!  But I can also cite specific times when God did small miracles.  It helps me recognize His presence and activity in my life.

Can you think of a time when God performed a miracle in your life, small or big?  Reminisce on that today, and thank Him for it. If you can’t think of a time, ask God to reveal himself to you in this way.  We never know what can happen when we have faith in our unfailing God.

The Good Life

"Be vigilant, listen obediently to these words that I command you so that you'll have a good life, you and your children, for a long, long time, doing what is good and right in the eyes of God, your God."  -Deut 12:28

What is the good life? It seems in our culture that a good life is defined as being filled with money, fame, and unconditional recognition.  This seems as though it’s the good life...but, is it?

"The good life begins in the fear of God - Do that and you'll know the blessing of God. His Hallelujah lasts forever!" -Psalm 111:10

The Israelites spent years in the desert, 40 to be exact, learning how to trust in and be obedient to God.  They were lived day by day, with just that day’s bread for food.  But, after many years and many failed tests, a new generation of Israelites got to enter the Promised Land - and have the 'good life' they had wanted and waited for for so long.

How can we have this good life as Christians?

"Even though a person sins and gets by with it hundreds of times throughout a long life, I'm still convinced that the good life is reserved for the person who fears God, who lives reverently in his presence, and that the evil person will not experience a "good" life. No matter how many days he lives, they'll all be as flat and colorless as a shadow - because he doesn't fear God."  -Ecc 8:12

Being right with God brings the good life. Staying within the boundaries of His teachings & commands brings the good life. Doing right by others, and not believing Satan’s lies about us brings about God’s goodness in our lives.

Are you experiencing the good life today? Ask God if there are any areas in your life where He is teaching you to bring you into the good life.  God desires that all of His children experience this good life through serving, worshipping, and loving Him.