Sunday, June 3, 2007

Quietness + Trust = Strength


"In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. You said, 'No, we will flee on horses.' Therefore you will flee! You said, 'We will ride off on swift horses.' Therefore your pursuers will be swift! A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!" Isaiah 30: 15-18

I picture Israel freaking out over some measly threats, wanting to flee at the first sign of danger, and God there saying, "NO! Let me show you my faithfulness and compassion! Let me show you my power!" Then I think about myself, and the times I want to solve situations myself, or that fight-or-flight instinct comes into play and I just want to run from difficult situations. I have a God who longs to show me His power, His mercy, His defense of me...

I also thought about all my soccer mom friends who are so busy in their daily lives, running the kids from soccer to tennis, from piano lessons to guitar lessons, to the grocery store, to takeout for dinner... they are so busy that they don't even have an opportunity to sit in quietness and trust and receive strength from their Maker. In the past few years I have learned the joy of sitting with my cup of coffee and just resting in the Lord. I go back to the US and I am almost filled with angst at the busyness of everyone. I hope that they haven't just jumped up from their beds and run and run and run! I hope today you can find a moment to sit and rest, be still, and just know that God yearns to show us more of Himself.

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