A Time To Rest



                                                                                  Matthew 11:28-29 “…Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
                                                                                 Jesus said it would not be an easy road to follow,. The trails we face as Christians are sometimes very difficult. Life in it self is hard. The problems of this life at times can seem overwhelming. We face hardships in our relationships, in our finances and often times in our health. So where does Resting in the Lord come into our lives, and how can it help us in our daily lives? And why did God mention Resting so many times in his word, if it were not something we were supposed to do? Especially if it was not for our benefit? 
                                                                            Jesus never said for us to do anything, he didn't do himself. He was a living example to us. The kind of Rest that Christ is speaking of is not only Spiritual but also physical. Even our Father in heaven rested.
                                                                                      "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." (Genesis 2:1-3 KJV)
                                                                           I have learned that when I am overwhelmed with life's problems, and situations seem out of my control or my health is failing me, that when I but Rest in the Lord, I find  peace. A peace that this world cannot give and does not know. For when I Rest in Him, He is able to take over, And do what I cannot.
                                                                            Ephesians 3:20 (KJV) ~ Unto Him that is able He is to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think.
                                                                             When we Rest, we surrender ourselves and our situation over to the Lord. We are saying, Lord, I can do nothing without you, But I will Rest in your Word and in your Promises that you will provide my needs and heal my body.
                                                                           The Hebrew word for rest is raphah meaning relax. Each letter of the Hebrew alphabet has a symbol that represents that letter. R= Resh  which stands for the head, P=Fey which stands for your mouth and the H=Heh which stands for Gods Grace. When you put it together you are saying: If you THINK of Gods Grace and you SPEAK of Gods Grace, then you will find rest in God's Grace. The root word for raphah is rapha, which means heal. You have again the R=resh for your head(thinking)  then P=fey for your mouth ( speaking) then you have Alef= which is a symbol of an ox( a sacrifice) Christ. When you put these together you are Thinking of the The sacrifice Christ made for our sins on the cross,  And You are speaking the Blood of the cross over your life and by doing this God is not only causing you to Rest (raphah) He is bringing healing (rapha)  to your situation, to your circumstances and to your body.
                                                                       So you see, by relaxing in the Lord,  We not only benefit Spiritually we benefit physically.We are taking it out of our hands and putting it into the Lord's hands. We are Relaxing in the knowledge that the Almighty God is in control of our life and his plans far exceed ours. We are acknowledging His very presence in our life and handing over our situation to him and saying Lord I will Rest while you provide. That my friend is when God can work a miracle in your life. It's when we let go and let God, that he does all the Blessing.
                                                                         I have learned when I Rest It gives Christ the Glory, He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that I ask, When I but Rest!!
                                                                           What are you struggling with today? marital problems, financial problems or maybe you have health issues your battling? Well my friend, you've but to Rest in the Lord  and He will bring you to new places. Health to your marriage, Healing to your body and  the Grace of Christ to open the windows of Heaven to bless your finances.
                                                                       Jesus is our place of Rest from the storms of life. When this life is tossing you around, Remember Thru Him and only Him will we find true Rest. He is our rapha.