“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore…Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” – Psalm 46:1, 10-11
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28
“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness’.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9
Have you ever been in the midst of a chaotic situation where everyone is running around frantic with anxiety? There is not enough time to finish…not enough people to pull it off…not enough money to make the deadline? Life can be crazy at times and, if we are not careful, we can live in a constant state of emergency. This is one of the reasons God established Sabbath. It is a call to His people to come into His presence and be still. The truth is that for most of us the “be still” part has to happen first. How many times have you looked a stressed out person in the eye and said, “Hey, just calm down and take a deep breath. It will be OK!” ? This is the Sabbath principle.
God is that person in the room that’s not panicking! He knows the situation…He knows you…and He knows the outcome. At first this annoys us. “Hey God! Why aren’t you helping? Don’t you get it? Don’t you understand the gravity of this situation?” And as the volume of our voice rises and the knot in our stomach tightens God looks us in the eye and says, “Hey, just calm down (be still)…take a deep breath and know that I am God. I got this. Just trust me. My grace is all you need.”
When whenever we take our eyes off of our Savior and begin to think that it all depends on us…we get into trouble…we get anxious…we get stressed out. It is then that God gently reminds us of Sabbath just as Jesus called His disciples to come and find rest. It begins with a trust, a faith in a compassionate God who, not only can do it, but has our best interest in mind. By the way, this IS our God! He is the Good Shepherd! You can trust Him today with all that is stressing you out. He is with you and He is not panicking. So, take a deep breath, look into He eyes and rest today.