Rest

I was reading Hebrews 3 today when something struck me. The passage refers to many different topics, but the verses that stood out to me were verses 18 and 19
"To whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief."
The primary understanding of these verses is in reference to the Israelites and their unbelief being the reason they were not able to enter the promised land. But today I read it a little different, so bear with me as we take off in another direction. If you backtrack to verse 12, the author is talking to Christians that have allowed their unbelieving heart to fall away from God. Belief is not referring to salvation here, but rather trust. These Christians did not trust the heart of God and in choosing not to trust Him, fell away from faith in the Living God. Now fast forward to verses 18-19 again and it seems to me that those Christians with the unbelieving (distrusting) hearts were told they could not enter His rest. Wow! But it make sense right? If my heart is wary to trust God, how can He give me His rest? Psalm 116:7 says, "Return to your rest oh my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you." Later in Matthew Jesus beckons us with His love by saying, "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." The rest our God promises us is pure and safe. It is a place where we can lay our weary souls, minds, and hearts. Can you count on your hands the number of days (even hours) that go the way you planned them to? It's enough to drive a person mad! But Jesus calls us to true peace....true rest. Dear friends, if we honestly want the rest Jesus promises, we must TRUST Him. Even if we don't get what we want, or our spouse doesn't say what we need to hear, or the dr tells us something that is out of our control, or the number of our children in heaven is more than here on earth....we can trust HIM. And trust Him we must if we ever want to truly be "at rest". I pray that whatever you're facing today you will stop trying and striving and doing and choose to trust the heart of our God who loves you more than you'll ever know. Then your heart will truly be at rest

Unseen Faith

Faith is the evidence of things unseen....such a picture. I am a visual learner and am far more captivated by things I can see than things that I hear. This worked against me all during school and has been one of the biggest obstacles in my grief journey. I know that my babies are in heaven with Jesus....but I want to SEE them. I have often told God that if there was a way that I could get just one glimpse that they are there, safe and happy that it would put my mind to rest. But that is not true hope is it? Anyone can have hope and faith in the things they see. It is hoping and resting in God being the One we entrust with the UNSEEN that grows our faith.