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Refreshment in Refuge
by Gina Burgess
It feels like forever. The constant waiting and waiting. When, Lord? When will You go to my defense? When will You fix this problem? When will I see daylight? When will I feel normal again? When will I be able to look up from this problem and focus on others again? When will You release me from this prayer vigil? When will I find a job? a husband? a wife? When will You give us a baby? When can I stop and rest?
That's just it. We must rest or we burn out. God knows just how long we need because it was He that issued the six day work week and the one Day of Rest. Only that day of rest is supposed to be completely devoted to God and the worship of Him.
What?
Isaiah 58:13 "If you watch your step on the Sabbath and don't use my holy day for personal advantage, If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy, GOD's holy day as a celebration, If you honor it by refusing 'business as usual,' making money, running here and there-- 14Then you'll be free to enjoy GOD! Oh, I'll make you ride high and soar above it all. I'll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob." Yes! GOD says so!
It isn’t "no football" on Sunday afternoon. It isn’t about having to work on Sunday because work like hospitals and chemical plants and police work require a 24/7 vigil. God understands this. The reverence of Him is not a Sunday only thing.
What I am saying is that we must sit down with God everyday or anxiety takes over. God knew this would happen so He prepared a day of rest to submerge in Him so that the daily anxieties and woes would be put into perfect perspective. He designed it so we would easily compare our problems against the hugeness of God like David did with Goliath. David knew his God was gigantic with extraordinary power which made Goliath look to be the smallest flea. David knew God’s will. His mission on that field was not of his own doing, but God led. The only way he could have known that was to submit himself constantly unto the LORD. We must do the same.
We have to practice giving it all to Him. The attitude of “I'll take it back and try to fix it myself” all the while making the matter worse gets in God’s way. Some problems dissipate with time, and other problems need the hand of God. I have a lot of the latter kind of problems, yet I get in God's way while He's trying to fix them... or while He’s trying to teach a lesson. You can go ahead and admit you are like that, too, because I know I'm not in the boat alone. We are skimming over the water far too fast, I can't row that fast so I know I'm not the only one rowing.
Keeping God first is a daily thing, not just a Sunday thing. Peter sank when he took his eyes off Jesus. The disciples couldn't remove the demon from the boy because they didn't have the faith of a mustard seed. David was lollygagging at the palace when he should have been at the war front with his men and that's when he lounged on the roof popping grapes in his mouth and his eyes roved over Bathsheba. The Bible is full of all kinds of examples of life situations that went awry when folks quit putting God first and that was the first step down their path to trouble.
Not so, Joseph. He got up in the middle of the night and went to get his bride who was pregnant and brought her home with him, effectively silencing any recriminations against her. The likelihood of Mary being stoned was almost certain.
I think about my life and I don’t see one problem that has that kind of likelihood of an end result. So why am I so anxious? Was Mary anxious? How did Joseph feel when he looked upon his swollen bride?
It is one thing to read about an event, to imagine the sweat, the dust, the cold, the animal smells, but it is something different to live through it.
And that is just the beginning of trials and tribulations. God never promised easy living. What would we ever learn if life's most pressing decision was which bonbon to eat next? Job had an easy life until God allowed Satan to put his foot into the middle of it. So, guess who's messing with us now?
Did God allow Job to be harmed past endurance?
Did God share with Job that Satan was the one playing havoc in his life?
Were any of us around when God laid the foundations of the world and when He hung the stars in place?
Of course not. Although, I’m quite sure that if I had been there, I would have given Him a suggestion or two about how to hang the world. I would have completely not known that hanging crooked in space is a good thing, not a bad thing. If it didn’t hang crooked, then we wouldn’t have our seasons, and I love the changes as the year progresses.
Someone said the best way to become a good leader is to hang out with good leaders. James says the best way to become wise is to ask for wisdom. It follows then, the best way to maintain our godly demeanor is to keep close to God and to make worship of Him our lifestyle.
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Gina Burgess has taught Sunday School and Discipleship Training for almost three decades. (Don't tell her that makes her old.) She earned her Master's in Communication in 2013.
She is the author of several books including: When Christians Hurt Christians, The Crowns of the Believers and others available in online bookstores. She authors several columns, using her God-given talent to shine a light in a dark world. You can browse her blog at Refreshment In Refuge.
If you'd like to take a look at some Christian fiction and Christian non-fiction book reviews check out Gina's book reviews at Upon
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