Don’t Move!

REST! Verb: “To cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength; to be placed or supported so as to stay in a specified position”. REST! Noun: “an instance or period of relaxing or ceasing to engage in strenuous or stressful activity; an interval of silence of a specified duration” (definitions acquired from Oxford Languages).

As mentioned in a previous blog post, God had been instructing me to rest since the end of last year. At first, I began thinning out my busy schedule and became more intentional with resting physically. Months later, He repeated the same word, and I knew that He was instructing me to have faith in Him and His Word due to the circumstances I was facing at that time. Let’s Talk!

During my upbringing within the church, I was introduced to the concept of “working” to please God. So as a young adult, I possessed the mindset that I needed to “work” to please God and “earn” His promises instead of possessing a Ephesians 2:8-9 mindset. BUT GOD! The last time God instructed me to rest, He gave me more specific instructions which included taking better care of myself spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally by: spending more quality time with my family; partaking in hobbies; writing only when He instructed me to do so instead of attempting to fulfill my own writing schedule; canceling commitments I had made out of the desire to please others; not going forth with an assignment that He had given me, etc. With that particular assignment, He had shown me a glimpse of it, but He had not provided any instructions to fulfill it. But due to my “work for it” mindset that I possessed as well as a desire to “get it done because God said so” attitude, I set out with my own idea of how it should be completed. But that was not God’s intention for it. He desired for me to stop “performing” and attempting to “work” to please Him or earn His promises; and instead, simply have faith in Him and remain in the proper alignment and posture to receive everything He has for me. So I stopped focusing on “performing” and “working to please”. I realized that I will never be able to work for something that I was never deserving of. I realized that I can please God through my submission to His will, the denying of myself, remaining obedient to Him, committing myself fully to Him. I started praying more, seeking His face more, studying my Bible more, sitting still more, and resting in Him more. I started trusting Him at His word instead of leaning on my own understanding, strength and might. I started allowing God to be God!

I want to encourage you on today! DON’T MOVE UNTIL GOD INSTRUCTS YOU TO!!! God is aligning you into the proper position to walk into His promises for your life; the proper position for His blessings to come to you instead of you attempting to chase them down; the proper position to hear His voice as He provides instructions; the proper position to be led by Holy Spirit at any given time. God desires for us to be obedient, sit still, relax, follow His leading, and rest in Him knowing that He will work everything out for our good.

Read, dissect and meditate on Ephesians 2:8-9, Psalm 37:7, Isaiah 55:11, and 2 Corinthians 1:20.