After some years on the road for Jesus full-time with my special needs ministry dogs, given the extreme challenge and exhaustion of it all, I truly looked forward to returning to a previous location I was confident after much praying would be “a quiet place of rest”. Given the location, climate, culture, familiarity of the area, and the beach I and paralyzed ministry dog Miss Mercy adore, surely I would enjoy my “quiet place of rest” where I could rest, write, seek the Lord for direction going forward, and do a little bit of ministry work. To my total surprise – and utter dismay – my “quiet place of rest” despite some beautiful blessings turned out to be ultra challenging and exceedingly uncomfortable for reasons I won’t go into.
What happened to the “quiet place of rest” to which I had fully believed God had led me? I genuinely believed God had spoken to my heart a promise that I would have “a quiet place of rest”. But this was anything but!
The Lord wanted to teach me a powerful lesson. He wanted me to learn how to do something I have needed to learn for a very long time. The “quiet place of rest” for Jesus’ followers is to be first and foremost IN CHRIST. Is to be above all else IN ABIDING IN JESUS. Such that no matter how much chaos, storm, trials, tribulations, challenges, noise, battles, craziness, etc. there may be around us, we can ABIDE IN THE LORD. We can have “a quiet place of rest” in THE LORD and in a PERSONAL FOREVER RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM and in INTIMATE FELLOWSHIP IN HIS GLORIOUS PRESENCE.
Simply put, no matter what goes on around us, we can choose to trust in the Lord, to put our faith in Him, to depend on Him, to hope in Him, to put our expectation in Him, to commune with Him, to spend time alone in His presence, to rejoice in Him, to find joy in Him, to rest in Him, to find peace in Him, to praise and adore Him, to worship Him, to love Him, to experience and enjoy His love for us, to find wisdom, direction, counsel, and comfort in Him, to find healing, restoration, refreshing, rejuvenation, and revival in Him, to look to Him as Lord, Savior, master, and very best friend, to grow in Him, to be transformed by Him, to draw ever nearer to Him, and Him to us, to grow ever deeper in relationship with Him, oh, yes – and more!
The perfect “quiet place of rest” is not in our circumstances, not in our physical location, not in our relationships with people, not in family and friends, not in our dreams coming to pass, not in anything of this world at all. Oh, sure, we can find wonderful blessings from God in any and all of this when He desires. But it is all temporary and imperfect.
Our perfect, 100% guaranteed, satisfying beyond measure, exhilarating and exciting and blessed “quiet place of rest” is for His followers IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST – now and forevermore, AMEN!
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”” Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV