In our “bootstrap” society, where you tough it up and do it on your own
and take pride in being a rugged individualist, the one thing that seems to
escape us is being before God on our knees – being before God, aware that we
are helpless and allowing him to assist us.
Can you say to Jesus, “This burden’s
too heavy for me? I want you to help me, please, carry this burden for me. I
cannot do it any longer.” He says if you will come to Him, if you will allow
Him to carry that burden with you, His promise is that you will receive rest.
Surrendering our life to Christ
means going to Him and saying, “I’m yours; use me however you want to.” Once you’ve
done this, you can begin to seek His will for your life. God chose Jesus'
earthly father not only because he was to marry the mother of Jesus but because
of his profession. A carpenter will take materials and make things that are
beautiful to the eyes of man. Jesus will take a person with no hope and will
make them a beautiful soul in the eyes of God. He can only do this with someone
who wants to be remolded.
So we then go to the word for
strength and comfort, and when we do, the words pierce us like a surgeon’s
scalpel, both cutting and healing us at the same time. The word of God cuts to
the very place where thoughts and attitudes come together, at the juncture of
soul and spirit, providing a healing that can be obtained in no other way on
earth. The Bible was provided as a road-map for us so that we might be able to
see Jesus Christ. If you want to grow in the Word of God, you must become a
person with a chisel and quarry the Word – look, explore, seek. Let His Word
become your Word, and you will grow.
The words of a carpenter, promising
rest, are so compelling because of our endless desire and quest to find rest –
not just rest in the body, but to rest the heart, to find peace, to finally
settle down in a field fertile with contentment. Do you know where to find
rest? Where you find the ability to sleep at night? By living in the promises
of the Father who made you.
When Jesus healed the woman in
Matthew 9, he told her that her faith had made her well. He was also saying to
her, “You’re very special to me, daughter. I know you’ve been rejected by
society, but your Father has not forgotten you." Our savior says the same
to us when we need His helping hand.
When Jesus and His disciples saw a
blind man while walking down the road. The disciples asked, “Jesus, who
sinned?” Jesus answered, “No one sinned.” Then Jesus healed the man. And He
eternally answered that our pain is not a result of our sin. God is not so
small that He would zap us for making a mistake. This passage teaches us the
opposite: Jesus is alive and He cares for our pain. We are serving a God who
says that even when we are under pressure and feel like nothing is going right,
He is waiting for us, to embrace us whether we succeed or fail.
We’ve got to decide that we are
going to stand on these promises even though there is destruction all around
us. When Jesus was sleeping in the bottom of the ship even though the storm was
raging and shaking the ship to and fro. The disciples thought for sure they were going to perish, even then they
did not realize who was actually riding through the storm with them. He
promised that he would never leave or forsake us. If He said it, that settles
it and we should believe it, for He cannot lie.
I challenge you to rediscover the
Bible in your own life... to regain the hunger and same enthusiasm you felt
when you first heard the name of Jesus! Once we’re honest with ourselves about
who we are, then God can begin to remold our hearts... in total surrender. This
is the Word of Promise; He offers it to each and every one of us. It is up to
us what we do with the promise He has to offer.
Written by:
Karen ReNee
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