Restful Presence

“My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Lest there be doubt, this is the voice of God speaking – to you!

What a fabulous statement and promise. Perhaps this is one of those “promises” that you want to claim as your own. Maybe post it in your office or on in your car.

Even while you are the go, while you are active, God is not only with you, but He will give you rest. You do not have to go in the power of your might, but rather by His. He will be the fuel in the gas tank. As much as I love biking, this is the perfect time to realize that you don’t have to pedal. He is giving you rest while you go.

The more I see of the Bible the more I see how God has always intended to be an active partner with us. We remind me of young adults who are so intent on their independence that they do not realize they have willing partners. It is as though, in our spiritual life, we never outgrew adolescence. Somehow, we have the idea that we must make our own way in this world. That was never the plan. God always intended to walk with us, daily.

I know that when people hear that, they have little appreciation that those words could speak of a real world, tangible partnership. We get so spiritual and have such spiritual ideas that we have forsaken the reality. “I know God is with me daily,” we say but we have such a distant, ethereal viewpoint of that partnership as to relegate it to the world of fiction.

The promise that He will go with you and along the way give you rest has real world, everyday implications. It is the way we get things done, especially when we have neither the time nor the energy. I remember once when a friend was over-taxed with work and simply did not have the time to do all that needed doing. I advised her to take a few minutes and focus on God. Now, what sense does that make? She didn’t have enough time as it was and yet I recommended spending time on something other than the myriad of tasks on her burgeoning list. She heeded my advice and guess what, it worked. Somehow God was able to multiply time. She was able to get more done in less time with less stress. I am telling you; this stuff really works but you have to remove it from the realm of fantasy to real world application. You have to believe that God is here with us, right now, ready and willing to make things happen. If you can do that, you will be amazed at the results.

God wants to give you rest even as you go. He wants to be the wind beneath your wings and a shelter from the storms. These sound like clichés; I know, but they are not. They are reflections of how God thinks. Let Him be your strength today, while you rest.