“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret – it only causes harm.” Psalm 37:7-8.
“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him”, as J. Vernon McGee used to say, “This is where the rubber meets the road”. All the trusting, dwelling, doing good, and delighting in these verses culminates in this, “Rest”.
Rest really happens when a person commits themselves wholeheartedly to a faithful Father.
There is a verse in 1 Peter that really captures this thought, the verse itself is about the Lord and His response to suffering. And indeed, it is about our own response when we are persecuted.
Read verses 1 Peter:18 through 25 for context. It is in this committing that we can come to rest.
“…[Jesus] who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him [God the Father] who judges righteously…” 1 Peter 2:23.
Did you know that it is possible to go through life in cruise control? Most Christians do not believe this and I confess the ride does get bumpy quite often, but that is not God’s fault.
Where does such a heretical idea come from? Well God tells us to rest, what does that mean? Does it mean sit back and enjoy the ride although it may get bumpy at times?
No, you can’t rest when it is bumpy, we know that, we have all tried to rest while riding in a car; smooth is one thing, bumpy is another.
My lack of faith does not change the fact that God told me to rest. The book of Hebrews verifies this whole thought.
“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’ For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” Hebrews 3:7-19.
God is showing us here what happened in the wilderness after the children of Israel were brought out of Egypt with great power. This power was obvious to all, yet they acted in time as if nothing were out of the ordinary.
It is a fascinating look at human nature, for God uses words like, hardened and unbelief, this doesn’t seem possible does it. The constant reminder of God’s presence, the cloud by day, and the pillar of fire at night, the supernatural in plain sight!
The miracles the manna all seen with eyes of unbelief, how can this be? Stop right here and think about what you have just read, let this sink in.
Have you ever had someone tell you, “If there is a God let him show me”? Undoubtedly you have wrestled with an answer to that question; over the centuries there have probably been many good answers, most of which have fallen on deaf ears. Why?
Because of conscious unbelief and hardness of heart on the part of those who heard.
If you read the book of Revelation, you will find that half way through the tribulation (three and a half years) three angels fly through the heavens in full sight of all the earth and proclaim three things.
The first angel has: “the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth – to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people…” Revelation 14:6b.
The second angel calls out, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen” Revelation 14:8a. This is a reference to the destruction of the murderous one world religion that is soon to engulf the entire world.
The third angel tells the inhabitants of the entire earth neither to take the mark of the beast nor to worship him. This last proclamation goes on to tell what will happen to all who do worship the beast (Antichrist).
“And the smoke of their torment [in the lake of fire] ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name [666].” Revelation 14:11.
Three angels, three messages; Jesus is the only way of salvation (the everlasting gospel), your world-wide religion is dead (destroyed by kings who follow the beast), and do not embrace the new religion (the mark and the worship of the Antichrist as god).
You will find this in Revelation chapter fourteen. The results are that, many accept Jesus Christ as their Savior while millions upon millions take the mark of the beast anyway.
After three and a half years of cataclysmic environmental disaster; then three angels give warning from the sky, and people still throw in their lot with the Antichrist.
One third of the trees burned up, all green grass, one third of the sea turned to blood, a third of the rivers and springs poisoned, the sun and the moon darkened, to name a few.
Am I the only one who sees a problem here? I do not think so.
The sin nature is so intertwined in the flesh that it will have nothing but one’s own selfish desires.
No matter how great the warning or how grave the danger to a person, these selfish desires will always find a way to get what it wants, if possible.
The, temptation to want for myself, will come to us in one of three ways, depending on the desire at the moment, these desires are; the desire to have, the desire to do, the desire to be.
I want many beautiful possessions, I want to be great, and I want to chart my own course. Scripture describes these three methods of temptation in this order and in the following manner.
“For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world.” 1 John 2:16.
And Jesus tells us how to overcome these temptations in the same order as they are given above.
“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23.
The sin nature is the answer to the question of evil that everybody is looking for, but no one considers it.
If they could only come to grips with the fact that Christ is the only cure for the sin nature, and receive the gift of salvation that is through His shed blood at the cross.
They could then put to death the deeds of the flesh with the help of the Holy Spirit, and as a new creature in Christ they would have the capacity to do so.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.
“Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him…” Psalm 37:7a.
The book of Hebrews continues this thought of entering into God’s rest.
“Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: ‘So I swore in My wrath, “They shall not enter My rest,”‘ although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.” Hebrews 4:1-3.
“There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.” Hebrews 4:9-11.
In verse 3 it says, “…we who have believed”, so God is talking to Christians. Verse 9 says, “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.”, so the Christian is not necessarily already in that rest.
He then tells us to “be diligent to enter that rest”. God’s rest is therefore something that we have to want to enter in to; it is not just dumped into our lap.
The experience of God’s faithfulness, and the ability to turn our entire lives over to a faithful Creator, without question of what He will do with it, is to enter into that rest.
“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him…” Psalm 37:7a.
“He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:29-31.
Today, as we see justice walled out by evil men and women who are addicted to power and greed openly flaunting the laws of this country, justice seems so far away.
But God never forgets and we may have to accept the fact that no matter how we long to see justice done, it is possible we will not see it until Judgment Day. But, my friends, we will see it with our own eyes, God is faithful.
“The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, for He sees that his day is coming. The wicked have drawn the sword and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, to slay those who are of upright conduct. Their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.” Psalm 37:12-15.
“The nations have sunk down in the pit which they made; in the net which they hid, their own foot is caught. The Lord is known by the judgment he executes; the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten; the expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. Arise, O Lord, do not let man prevail; let the nations be judged in Your sight. Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.” Psalm 9:15-20.
“Let them be like chaff before the wind, and let the angel of the Lord chase them. Let their way be dark and slippery, and let the angel of the Lord pursue them. For without cause they have hidden their net for me in a pit, which they have dug without cause for my life. Let destruction come upon him unexpectedly, and let his net that he has hidden catch himself; into that very destruction let him fall.” Psalm 35:5-8.
Pray that the Lord will give this nation victory over evil and a renewal in Christ and make us a beacon of hope to those who cry out for deliverance from the globalists.
Justice Walled Out, Part 2 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 7-24-15, updated on 9-22-24 ck.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.