Resting part 1
Let's talk about grace. Let's talk about what it really means to be able to stop trying so hard. So stop trying to be someone you're not in order to get something you think you haven't got. Let's talk about this journey--this never ending, eternal life-long journey into the heart of the matter, which is the heart. Matthew 11:29 in the Message Bible says, "Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you." That, really, is what it's all about. Walking with Jesus. When we think all the way back to the beginning, all the way back to Eden's misty gardens, that's what we see, "...they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day..." (Genesis 3:8). The voice of the Lord. The Word of God. Jesus. That is what He has always wanted for us, and with us. God says it over and over in the Old Testament, "I will be their God, and they will be my people." But in the garden, if we read the rest of that verse in Genesis, "...and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden." He has always wanted to walk with us, and we have always let things get in the way. Even when Jesus took on the flesh of a human His cry was for us to walk with Him, to learn from Him. To be a witness to what He is all about. And then, in seeing, to BE those things He is all about. Look at what happens when we get to the other side of the cross: "I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: "Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They're his people, he's their God" (Revelation 21:3 MSG). Before the "fall" God walked with men. But then we hid from Him, and it was His heart's cry to repair that breach of relationship. That's what happened at the cross. Through the cross. Because of the cross. That's where we are now. Look! He's our God. We're His people. That fellowship has been restored, because Jesus was lifted up on the cross and drew all men into Himself. He planted Himself in all men. Brought us out of a dimension where we had to earn our bread by the sweat of our brow by sweating great drops of blood and redeeming the ground. Redeeming US. He doesn't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on us. He doesn't want us to suffer. He wants us to to do more than just survive. He wants us to thrive. He wants us to enjoy our life--HIS life. That's why He gave it to us--so that we could experience and enjoy it by letting Him live His own life in us, and through us, and as us. I heard a preacher say it like this: "When you work, God will rest. And when you rest, God will work." He won't force His will on you, but He does make it available to you. He has given us everything, because He has given us Himself. We don't have to try to earn it. We can simply receive it and release it. We can LEARN (and that's going to be a big part of my focus here) the unforced rhythms of grace. We can learn and grow in grace. Because grace gives us space. Grace doesn't disqualify us when we mess up or make mistakes. We don't have to try so hard all the time. We can rest. We can let the love of God flow from a place and a posture of rest!