Rest from Stress from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.
Today I want to talk about resting from stress. Jesus Christ, who lived on Earth as our example, lived a simple life of trust and peace. When He and the disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee on their fishing boat and a great storm came, Jesus slept soundly in the bottom of the boat. That is what I call resting from stress. Let’s read that passage and let it sink into our spirit:
When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Matthew 8:23–26 NASB
Jesus rebuked the storm, and the disciples for waking Him up, then probably went back to sleep. The storm was a stressful situation for the disciples, but not for Jesus. What was the difference? Jesus said it was their small amount of faith, that the disciples had “little faith.”
Something that I want to make clear is that we can go past the disciples “little faith” today for we have their experience to build on. We have the Holy Spirit who came down when Jesus went up. We have the New Testament and their lives recorded as our example, while they were pioneering the way for us. It was difficult for them learning even who the Holy Spirit was, while battling ideas like “Can gentiles be saved?” or “Do men have to be circumcised in order to be saved?” but by doing all of that, they paved the way for us to go farther. What have we done with that?
The Bible portrays Jesus as lovingly calm and patient. In Luke 9:55, when a samaritan village did not welcome them, James and John offered to call down fire from heaven and burn them up, apparently to save Jesus the trouble. Jesus told them: “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”
Jesus did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. What a statement, when looking back over the long and bloody history of the church, who has often tried to destroy anyone who disagreed with it. Destroying men’s lives did not come from Jesus.
A few chapters after calming the storm, Jesus said this in Matthew 11:28:
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28–30 NASB
Rest for your souls, something that is amazingly rare today. Is your soul at rest, or are you constantly stressed about what may come tomorrow? Are you terrified when the storm approaches and yelling “Jesus! I perish!” or have you prepared yourself by praying and already told the Lord about the things that are worrying you before the storm appears.
I find that trouble often avoids those who are prepared for it. We once took a course by Dave Ramsey on managing your finances, and the first thing that he advised was setting aside an amount of money for an emergency fund. Oddly enough, when we did this, the emergencies stopped happening. He said it was the same for him.
The reason that Jesus was able to sleep in the boat during a storm was that He had already prayed that day and He had that inner peace. He was prepared for whatever came His way. There is a direct link between peace and trusting God. When we have a lack of peace in our life, it comes from a lack of trust that He will take care of us. Consider Isaiah 26:3:
You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3 NKJV
This describes how Jesus was able to sleep in the boat during a storm. He completely trusted God to take care of Him. He knew that He would not be leaving the Earth until He had fulfilled His time here. He was not concerned with tomorrow or things beyond His control. Jesus prayed. He spoke in faith. He trusted the Father.
I am not saying that we are a failure if we can’t walk on water, but Jesus did rebuke the disciples for their “little faith” because apparently they were supposed to have more of it. So learn to pray and trust Him to help you, before you actually need it. Be flexible. Don’t tell Him how to bless your plans. Instead, get in line with His plan, then do your part no matter how small, and let Him take care of the rest. You don’t have to worry about ten thousand things that you cannot change. Pray, rest, and take comfort knowing that you are not alone in this.
You can pray this with me if you like:
Prayer: Heavenly Father, please open my mind to understand Your word. I give You my heart and I choose to trust You today. You are my peace. You are my rest. I am not alone for You are with me and that gives me great comfort, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.
Note: Good morning and God bless:)! We so appreciate y'all and pray blessings over all of you who encourage and support us each week!
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Amen!!
Amen thank you Jesus. I choose to trust you in every trial and circumstance in my life. I love you Jesus. Thank you for choosing me and loving me. Help my unbelief and strengthen me to fear you and follow your will for my life. AMEN
Amen and Amen! Please oh Lord increase my faith and stengthen my trust in You, please fill my cup, more and more of you and less of me, asking in the holy name of Jesus, Amen!
Amen!
Give me peace far God. Let me truly have a faith that sees me through without doubt. Amen.
Amen,thank you Pastor Dion,God Bless
Amen Father! Thank you!
Amen Lord Jesus!!
Pastor this message was so good for me. I have prayed for safe travels many times and then start stressing over again. I need to remember that He is with me and is in control of the situation. Thank you
Amen what a great way to start this week l always walk with a prayer and trust in my heart that God is my rock
Thank You Jesus that I am not alone in this, Amen.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, please open my mind to understand Your word. I give You my heart and I choose to trust You today. You are my peace. You are my rest. I am not alone for You are with me and that gives me great comfort, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.
Amen. Thank you Jesus! I've been sick for 3 weeks. I've taken 2 rounds of antibiotics and stll not feeling better, actually worse. I'm praying; however, I realized my faith during this challenge is wavering. I'm not being patient with God or myself. This devotional was right on time for my current situation. I will rest, and not stress. I will give it to God and put my trust in him to deliver me from this situation. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Amen, Gail! In Jesus name, Amen!!!
This was one of the best devotions I've read in a long time, sort of like a mini Bible study! Thanks so much, Pastor Dion!
Amen... I am so stressed out i ieed to have more faith and stop worrying..
Amen and Amen, Bill!!! Same here, I need to stop worrying, too, leave all the tomorrows in my/our Heavenly Father's hands!!! (h5)
Dear Father I trust in Your designs and I know You are there for me with Your peace and comfort. I love You and need Your grace to follow Your word, in Jesus name I pray Amen. Praise the Lord.
Thank you Pastor for this devotional, God bless you.
Amen! There is more to this teaching than most will ever understand! Thank You Lord for Your Peace!
Thank you. Amen.
Amen !
Amen Lord
Thanks so much for this devotion! This is so great! We all get stressed from time to time and in my life I have had a lot of stressful times and anxiety. Recently I have been praying more, spending more time with God, doing dailly devotions before I leave for the day. I am learning to trust God completely with my Life. I have had a taste of " The Peace that transends all understanding" and it is totally amazing! I know now that God is always with me and watching out for me. He wants to bless me and take care of my needs. The more I put God first in my life the more I feel his spirit with me and speaking to me.
Too often I am guilty of putting my trust in people and thing that are not in Christ Himself. The result is often not good and even a disaster causing a lot of stresses. For example, trusting in doctors knowing what they are doing and heal us would not always be true. My dad years ago was sent to John Hopkins hospital for a simple heart issue, and they claimed to be the best cardiac hospital in the country. We thought he would be better quickly and go home, but he ended up dead in their care. Same thing with trusting in money providing comfort and safety. When communists took over our country decades ago, everything my parents owned was taken away including money, which was totally worthless with a new currency in place.