Devotionals

THE WORK OF REST

by Jason Barnett 
02/02/17
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The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  PSALM 23:1-4 (NKJV)

Jesus lay sleeping in the boat, head resting on a pillow. The exhaustion must have been great because as a mighty storm brewed the Lord continued to sleep. As the winds gained intensity and the waves brutally battered the boat, seasoned fisherman began to panic. As fear griped their hearts, the disciples were surprised to see Jesus peacefully dozing. They abruptly awoke him saying, “Teacher, do you not care that we all are going to die?”

Rising up from his slumber, Jesus sharply shouted, “Peace, be still!” And with those three words the chaos was transformed into a great calm. Then Jesus does something that seems out of place, He turns and scolds His disciples. “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” (Paraphrased from Mark 4:35-41) Why did Christ rebuke them?

The answer lies in the Messiah’s question, “Why are you so fearful?” The disciples had allowed the Good Shepherd to lead them from their ordinary lives into the coziness of the green pastures. They watched the power of God in full display as Jesus restored life to the breathless. Yet when His leading brought them into shadow, fear became their master

Fear robbed the disciples of the rest described to us by David in Psalm 23. This rest is not one that frees us from work, but a state of the heart in the midst of it. It is a uniting of our heart, mind, and soul in a satisfaction found in God. While this rest is a constant state of being, the path is not. The Shepherd leads us to green pastures to provide us moments of relief in preparation for our continuing journey, which goes past the still waters and into the darkened lowlands. Despair does not overwhelm us as the way becomes treacherous because our spirits remain hushed by the same God who brought us to the fields of prosperity.

Wandering the roads of this life you can have hope because your wandering is not aimless. You can have a lasting peace because the Spirit of God resides in you. The same Christ who halted stormy seas wants to bring a great calm in your life. He wants to give you a state of rest that is not washed away by the crashing waves. Come to Jesus, you wearied and over burdened child, let Him give you rest.