Rest Secure

Week 9  Love From God

Day 57

Rest Secure

We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.

1 John 4:16a NLT

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he enemy knows our weaknesses, and when we embark on a freedom path he uses this knowledge to deliver discouragement or even despair. We don’t have to accept his deliveries! Despair need not have it’s way with us, because the Holy Spirit protects our hearts. We can say with the Psalmist, "Though war break out against me, even then I will be confident..."[i]  

The "peace that passes understanding"[ii] gifts us with confidence even when things that are important to us have not come to fruition as we had hoped. When circumstances are difficult and our hopes of good and Godly outcomes are dashed, even then we can rest in the confidence that the Lord is in control. 

We may have encountered roadblocks on our freedom path. We thought we would quickly become slender and renewed, inspiring others in a worldly way with our admirable “after” photos earning admiration and praise. But the Lord’s idea is that we lose spiritual and emotional baggage so that our hearts are transformed ahead of any physical transformation. We hear the Holy Spirit whisper, “When the heart is set right, the rest will follow. First things first, my friend! Godliness comes ahead of physical training, and always remember this: God looks at the heart."  

We can be certain God does not waste one failure, and that even our sin, when forgiven, drives us more expediently to the results He has planned for us. We can rest secure in the knowledge that the Holy Spirit is at work setting our hearts to rights, and that the rest of our beings—spiritual and physical—will follow. In His own time, our Lord will draw us into perfect alignment with His will.

One of the sweetest ways to show love for God is to be still before Him like a trusting child in its mother’s arms.[iii] We can rest peacefully in the knowledge that our Lord is at work in ways we cannot see to bring about His perfect will for us. 

Pray: Father, forgive me for the ways I’ve sinned today. Thank You for being in control, not only of the things I do that are pleasing to You, but also of the results of my forgiven sin. Lord please deliver me from bondage to sinful habits, and by Your grace and sacrifice on my behalf, rescue me from the fruits of my sin. Keep me from the despair that comes when I look at myself, and help me keep my eyes on You. Help me to rest quietly in Your arms in the circumstances You have provided, trusting that You work in ways I can’t see to bring me into alignment with Your Spirit within me.  In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

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Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him,
    for he shields him all day long,
    and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.

Deuteronomy 33:12 NIV

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[i] Psalm 27:3

[ii] Philippians 4:6

[iii] Psalm 131