He is our resting place

Psalm 23: The Lord is my best friend and my shepherd. I always have more than enough. He offers a resting place for me in his luxurious love. His tracks take me to an oasis of peace, the quiet brook of bliss. That’s where he restores and revives my life. Lord, even when your path takes me through the valley of deepest darkness, fear will never conquer me, for you already have! You remain close to me and lead me through it all the way. Your authority is my strength and my peace. The comfort of your love takes away my fear. I’ll never be lonely, for you are near. You become my delicious feast… you give me all I can drink of you until my heart overflows. So why would I fear the future? For your goodness and love pursue me all the days of my life…

Ah, rest… We long for rest because that is the state we were created to live in and from. And rest is connected to oneness, to communion with the One whom our heart loves. 

I am discovering that rest is also connected to surrender. 

I recently found myself lying in a hospital in intensive care, facing a life threatening health situation unexpectedly. Honestly, in that moment I felt unprepared to face the possibilities. 

As I lay there pouring out my heart to the Lord, I heard him say: “I have everything you need. All of the faith, the peace, the courage, the healing, the wisdom, it’s all in Me. I am in you, and you are in Me. We are one. So you already have everything you need, right now. You don’t have to fight. I have fought for you. Curl up at my feet and rest. I’ll be standing for you in the storm. I’ve got this.“ 

So that’s what I did. I laid down on the inside. I surrendered. The possibilities, the outcomes, the fear and anxiety, my hopes and dreams. All of it. 

In the surrender, I received all that I needed. I could trust Him to be good to me. I found deep rest. 

I experienced in that moment how integral trust is to surrender. 

Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” My translation: Be confident and secure in the Lord, fearing nothing for yourself, with the whole of your innermost being. Don’t support yourself by your own knowledge, intelligence, or skill. It is profound to me that one of the translations of the word trust invokes the idea of “throwing one on his back.” Trust and surrender are vulnerable. I must trust the one to whom I surrender, in order to fully do so. That is why trust and surrender are rooted in intimacy and communion. It is in the place of intimacy and vulnerability that trust is built. It is there that I become so convinced of His unwavering love and goodness that I can trust Him and surrender my will, my ways, my hopes, my everything, knowing He holds me and He is good! 

I no longer need to protect and provide for myself. Everything I need, He has, and He and I are one. He has already given me all that I require in His very nature that is now joined to me. He is my shepherd, my best friend, my delicious feast, my resting place. 

Do you long for deep, abiding rest? What are you holding on to today? Are you anxious or fearful? Are you weary from the fight? 

Turn toward Jesus. 

Hear Him say to you:

“I have everything you need. I am in you, and you are in Me. We are one. You already have everything you need, right now. You don’t have to fight. Curl up at my feet and rest. I’ve got this.“