Week 20: Peace
Weekly Chapters:
II Chronicles 11-31
Passage of the Week:
II Chronicles 20:30
Adjective:
1. State of harmony
2. Tranquility
Thesaurus:
· Accord
· Break
· Friendship
· Breather
· Unity
· Calm
· Concord
· Comfort
Father God,
I look forward to the lessons this week has to offer. Being in a state of rest or peace is not always the most comfortable or easy. Give me the tools to understand Your lessons for me so that I may put them into action.
Amen
Authentic vulnerability:
Peace and rest are beautiful to think about yet seem so far away for many of us. Feeling rested and at peace seem distant and unobtainable some days. We are always running and striving. We feel there is never enough time. We wake up tired as the alarm reminds us to start our day, and we sleepwalk through our days, relying on caffeine to get us to the next meeting or the next minute. We are wound up tightly like a clock and can never get eight hours of sleep, even on the weekend. We over-pack our days, our months, our years. We blink and realize it is May!
And peace, when is your mind ever at peace? How can it be? There’s so much to do! We need to run the kids here and there to each commitment we made to the school, sporting events, art, or dance classes. And, of course, we leave a little room for church. All of this running allows no time to unwind. Because of this, we seek out mind-numbing activities like throwing on a podcast to fill the silence if we have any. We reach out for activities like TV, Netflix, Facebook, games on our phones, computers. We reach out for drinks to numb our pain and forget the day.
But do any of our choices bring us rest?
What is your Authentic Truth?
Study:
No wonder we find peace and rest elusive. We do not allow for it. It’s not on our calendar because there’s no room for it.
II Chronicles 20:15 says, do not be afraid; this battle is not yours but God’s. Verse 17 states, do not be afraid or discouraged because God is with you. Verse 20 says to believe in God’s power. Verse 21 says, give thanks to the Lord; his faithful love endures forever. Verse 30 God gave Jehoshaphat’s kingdom rest on every side because they followed the Lord, did not lose faith, and let the Lord fight their battle.
We know rest is essential. We know that we need eight hours each night, yet we rarely see it. We know that shutting off our brains seems impossible even when reading our Bible; our minds never seem at ease.
But God commands rest. He rewards rest.
Genesis 2:1-3, God provides an example for us after his six-day workweek. God models what he wants us to do. Then, if we look back into what we have read so far, God commands rest in Leviticus 19:30, “keep my Sabbath days of rest, and show reverence toward my sanctuary. I am the Lord”. And in Matthew, we will read Jesus stating, “come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest, “Matthew 11:28 NLT; or in NASB, weary and heavy laden, CSB weary and burdened.
Is that where you are mentally? Weary? Burdened mind? Is that why just sitting down to read seems so elusive and out of reach? Can you imagine a time where your mind was not on full alert, constantly thinking of all you need to do? God beckons you into rest.
Psalm 91:1, tells us that “those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” God tells us over and over again where to find rest. In His shadow, in His loving arms, in His presence. Spending time focusing on God and His splendor, His gifts, His desire for our lives, this is rest. Keeping the Sabbath holy and not cluttering it with what we must be doing, giving God His place in our lives. It is so easy to say and write, yet we all find it so difficult to achieve. Our expectations of ourselves, our judgment, and our perceived judgment by others is so high. We just need to let that go and just be, just be in and with God, our Father.
Father God,
Thank You for being so understanding of my need for rest, so understanding that You commanded it. Give me the strength to listen to Your command to rest so that I can be who You desire me to be. Thank You for knowing my needs and providing rest for my soul.
Amen.
Homework:
Take one day, one whole day, or at least four total hours if you cannot get in a day. Go out in nature, to a park with no people, to a nature preserve, anywhere that you can be alone with your thoughts and God’s gift of nature.
