Do You Need Rest?

Are you in a position of worry or a position of rest?  Are you holding on to your problems or giving them to God?

2018 is YOUR year of GRACE my friend! This is your year to let it go, give it to God and enjoy your life! Life on this earth will never be perfect. Life will never be problem free. The good news is that you can ENJOY it anyway! You can rest and have peace smack dab in the middle of the biggest crisis of your life! God’s grace and favor are BIGGER than your trial! Apostle Paul pleaded with God in II Corinthians 12:8-9 to take away the thorn in his side but Jesus told him that God’s grace was sufficient to see him through. It’s the through part that expands our faith. It’s the throughpart that spiritually matures us and empowers us for that next challenge. It’s the through part that elevates us higher than we ever thought possible. Each time you face a bigger challenge face it KNOWING that God will give you MORE grace (James 4:6).

What would your life look like if you had more of God’s presence, favor and grace?  Who gets the grace? Who gets the victory that was given to us by Jesus?  The one who cast his/her care on God. It takes humility to do this. It takes YOU getting to the point where you say…”I can’t do this on my own. I need Christ.” 1 Peter 5:7 clearly says“to humble yourself cast ALL your care on God.” Carrying your own care is called PRIDE. When we try to solve our problems by ourselves we are telling God that we don’t need him and this always leads to our destruction. Look at the world today. How well is it doing on its own?  Prayer was taken out of our schools in 1962 and since then the morality of our culture has been in a major decline. The truth is staring the world in the face…WE NEED CHRIST! We don’t need religion…we need CHRIST! There’s a big difference between the two. Religion is man’s way to reach God. Jesus is God’s way to reach man. We need to cast our cares on Christ. We do this by meditating on how much God loves us.

Why do you lay awake at night worrying? Why do you carry your burdens with you day after day? Because you have no idea of how valuable you are to God. (Matthew 6:26). It’s the price paid for something that determines its value. You and I were bought with a price. (1 Peter 1:18-19).  We were bought by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. It’s that price that was paid that determined your value. Have you ever thought of your worth in that way? Or are you defining your worth by the world’s standards? Are you defining your worth by the car you drive, by the education you have, by the house you live in, by the money you have in your bank account and/or by all the charitable deeds you do? You were not purchased by the corruptible things of this world like money, power or fame. The reason you lay awake at night worrying about your bills, your health, your marriage and your kids is that you don’t know how much you are really worth. Your net worth is not measured by the world’s standards. You can’t find it on a balance sheet. God gave you the only thing He could give you that would cost Him something. He gave YOU His SON!

Can you grow one day in your finances by worrying? Can you improve your health by worrying? Will worrying restore your broken relationships? Then WHY do you worry? Jesus says in Matthew 6:28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” This toiling and spinning you do (constantly worrying) are NOT what brings growth to your family. Are you so busy that you are buried under Satan’s yoke? Are you being led by a schedule or by the Spirit? Or are you spinning mentally?  Your physical body can be still yet your mind is racing with worry.  Is your mind spinning out of control? Is worrying eating away at you? That spinning (worrying) is hindering your growth. You need to say out loud right now…Who cares? The right answer is Jesus! Cast your care onto Him. If you are burdened and are weighed down by worry come to Jesus and He will make a trade with YOU. He will trade you your worry for His REST. Is that a divine exchange or what? You give Him your burdens and He gives you His rest! He will teach you to live in the unforced rhythms of grace…free from toiling and spinning.

Sit down and Rest! Take your seat and give up the stresses of life! Jesus is finished! Look up! Jesus is sitting down at the right hand of His Father. His position is that of REST. REST means to cast your care and not worry! A life of faith is a life of rest. Your good fight of faith means you fight to stay in rest and refuse to allow worry and stress into your mind. They will knock at the door but you must refuse to let them in! Say out loud…”I choose not to worry and stress. I choose instead to enter God’s rest.” It is important to guard your heart with all diligence because from it flow the issues of life. (Proverbs 4:23) That means you must be selective in what you listen to, what you watch and who you choose to spend your time with. (Your eyes and ears are the gates to your heart) Worry is the torment of fear. It is the expectation of bad. It will come to you and try to rob you of your sleep. This is why it is so important for you to study the word of God so you will know…really know in your heart how very much God loves you. Our greatest need in life is that we are loved and valued. Our greatest fear is that we’re not loved and we’re not enough. Think about it...do your children worry if they’ll have clothes to wear or food to eat? Why not? Because they know you love them.

The area you are worrying about is THE very area you choke God’s flow of blessings.  There’s a big difference in praying FROM victory and FOR victory. Our prayers for the most part, should be prayers of THANKSGIVING. Of course we have requests and needs we should make known to God but one time is enough to ask. God doesn’t forget your needs or requests. Once you ask him one time then thank Him again continually for taking care of it.   Say…”God, thank you that it’s in your hands and you have worked it out for my good.”  We always think our prayers are to GET God to do something, to GET God to give, to GET God to heal us and/or provide for us. HE’S ALREADY DONE THAT! That’s why Christ is SITTING down! You don’t have to concern yourself with it after you ask God to handle it. Praying to get healing is a position of weakness. When you pray to GET something you are straining, you are in unrest because you are striving to GET healing. There’s a big difference between “get” and “got”. Got means you already have it! It is important to remember that God didn’t say you would immediately feel better or look different after you pray from victory. The symptoms you may still be able to SEE, but stand on His promise! He promises that if you put your trust in Him you will not be put to shame! You don’t have to know when your deliverance will manifest just know that it will happen! Trust God to handle it in His way and in His time! He knows far better than you what is best for you. He can see the entire movie of your life, past, present and future whereas you can only see the past and present. 

Envision a rubber hose filled with golden oil over your head constantly flowing down upon you. The golden oil is a flow of health, prosperity, blessings, joy and peace. The flow has already been paid for. Jesus purchased an unlimited supply for you. The supply is constant and is always flowing. Now, envision a big hand clamping down over the hose above your head.  It squeezes so tightly that is cuts off the flow of the golden oil. The hand is a symbol of your worry. When you worry you choke the hose of God. The blessings cannot flow.  When you let go and refuse to worry about what you will eat, what you will wear, how you will provide for your family God will provide for you in ways you cannot imagine! He promises He will cloth you better than Solomon in all of His glory!  Now, that’s a promise you should STAND ON my friend! How awesome is that!!!

The greatest responsibility and the holiest thing you can do is REST. The supply from flows when you’re at REST. The supply is choked when you WORRY. So the next time you are facing a challenge check your flow. Where did you choke it?  When did you start worrying?  It’s prevalent in our world to believe if I love you I will worry over you. But this is a lie. The more you worry about a person the more you cause them to be estranged from you. You form a wedge between them and you. Satan will use the most legitimate of worries to stop the flow. He will whisper in your ear…”you better be concerned about that.” When you worry you stop the flow. You endanger those you worry about because Satan now knows where you are vulnerable and you are telling him which buttons to push. Job was not at rest over his children and they were attacked. He became fearful that they held sin in their hearts and each morning would do sacrifices. His unrest opened the door for Satan. Trust God with your children. Trust God with your health. Trust God with your finances. When you trust Him and place your worries into His capable hands you are free to enjoy your life in the midst of your battles.

It is wrong and unhealthy to be immobilized by worry. Casting our cares on God is the way we demonstrate our faith and trust in Him. We don’t have to know how or when He will handle it. We just have to believe that He will. This belief is grounded in knowing that God loves YOU! Do you know that? Do you know how valuable you are to Him? I challenge you to take a technology fast this week and cut off the cell phones, the I-Pods, and I-Pads. Spend some time with Him. It’s hard to receive love from someone you don’t know.  Once you do you will be blown away by the peace and joy you have. For once in my life my happiness and joy are not dictated by my circumstances, what others think about me or the false standards of this fallen world. Knowing that you are loved, valued, cherished and protected by your Heavenly Father is all that you need my friend! He will fill that empty hole in your heart! He will give you peace and joy that passes all understanding!“How can you be smiling and happy with all that’s going on in this world?” someone may ask. You happily respond…”Because God loves me and because He loves me I have a great future ahead of me. IT’S ALL GOOD!!!

Let it go, give it to God and enjoy your week!

In Christ, Sherry :-)

Copyright © 2018 Sherry Braswell Ministries, All rights reserved.