“For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: ‘In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.’” Isaiah 30:15, NKJV.
Recently, the Lord has been speaking to me about a season of rest. And what I’ve found is, as I rest in Him, I trust more in Him. Sometimes, in life, we can be carried away by those things taking place in our lives. If that happens, we must learn to rest, stop, and refocus our attention on what really matters in life. Life is precious, too precious to waste on things that are unimportant. The rare air of rest in a world filled with busyness, noise, and chaos is vital to the believer’s perspective. I want to ask you a question: When was the last time you rested? Not just slept. Rested. Then, did you just slow down? Or did you come to a complete stop? Not a rolling stop, as so many of us are used to, but a complete stop? Then, did you refocus your energies, your attention, your thoughts on what really matters to you? Or did you pass that moment by? The Lord is calling His sheep to rest, stop, refocus, and renew. That’s what I’d like to talk about in this post.
There are certain seasons in life where we must set aside time and space to rest. Jesus did. In Luke 5:16, Berean Standard Bible, we learn, “He [speaking of Jesus] frequently withdrew to the wilderness to pray.” Jesus didn’t find the desert a lonely place; rather, it was a place where He found renewal — through prayer. There were times when Jesus withdrew with His disciples, Mark 3:7, NKJV. There were times He withdrew from His disciples, Luke 6:12 Amplified Bible. Also, Jesus withdrew from the crowds. Matthew 14:23, KJV. There are times when we just need to withdraw to rest and find solace in God. Don’t miss this divine season of opportunity, for it’s vital to your health and wellbeing.
Notice, the master key is called, The Key of David. Why does God call His master key the Key of David? Because, as a shepherd, David knew how to go off and be alone. When the prophet Samuel came to the House of Jesse to anoint a new king, David wasn’t there. Everyone was there…except David. Where was David? By himself, keeping the sheep. In that place of rest, David found great strength. In 1 Samuel 17:36, NKJV, we see the fruit of David’s time alone with the sheep in the place of rest, “Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them”. And David killed Goliath…just as he did with the Lion and Bear.
Before you can face Goliath, before you can defeat the Lion, before you can defeat the Bear, you must prepare your heart, find strength for the times to come, and learn to strengthen yourself in the Lord, as David did. When we stop trying to keep up and finally slow down and come to a complete stop, in that place, we find victory, for our trust in God is renewed and revived.
And yes, stopping is an important part of this process. Not just slowing down, stopping. Moses spent 40 years in the desert…learning to stop. God had to teach Moses to slow down and come to a complete stop…bleating sheep and all. Amidst the bleating sheep, Moses learned to stop. He stopped listening to the bleating of the sheep and started hearing the Voice of the Shepherd. And there, he found the Voice of the Shepherd in the middle of bleating sheep. A foreshadowing of complaining, murmuring people, and learning to step aside to discern the Voice of the Lord.
“The Lord is calling His sheep to rest, stop, refocus, and renew.”—Scott Wallis
Yes, Moses, David, and Jesus were all shepherds. Jesus said of Himself, “I am the good shepherd”. John 10:11, NKJV. It’s one of the I Am verses we often forget. Why? Because it’s not super spiritual. Here, Jesus is telling us, “you are sheep”. And oftentimes, we don’t like to see ourselves as sheep, do we? Why? Sheep are defenseless, helpless, and sometimes, stubborn. Ouch! Doesn’t that describe us? Stubbornly independent, yet completely dependent and defenseless in life. Thank God for His divine protection and intervention. As David said, we can say, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. No want, no lack, no fear.
When we stop, then we lose all fear. No longer are we consumed by the fear of loss; rather, we lose all fear in the face of the Shepherd and Bishop of our soul. Our focus shifts…from ourselves to our great shepherd — Jesus. It’s in that shift that we find our place of victory. King Solomon observed those who found this place of victory: “I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.” Ecclesiastes 9:11, NLT.
Life is decided, success is decided, not by skill or strength or speed or wisdom or education, but by “being in the right place at the right time”. Who you are is determined by where you are, who you spend time with, what you hear, and who you listen to. Few made time for Jesus. God came to earth in human flesh and blood and yet few paid attention to Him, saw who He was, and spent their time with Him. What made the Apostles different was “they left everything and followed Jesus.” Luke 5:11, NLT. They didn’t miss their opportunity to spend their limited time on earth walking with God in the flesh.
Yes, there are times when we must leave everything behind. There are times when God says, “Come and follow Me!” When He does, will you be ready? Will you set your heart to seek God? Now is the time to set your heart on Him, on things above and not on things of the earth. Rest. Refocus your attention. Renew your strength. And follow Him. Now is the time to do it. Amen.
Let us pray!
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