Resting Place
“My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place." (Jeremiah 50:6 NIV).
If ever I needed a fresh example of the timeless, to-the-point power of God's Word, this Scripture from Jeremiah is it. How incredible is this? An ancient prophet spoke words that would have gotten the attention of the people of His day, yet they still arrest us now...thousands of years later.
"My people...forgot their own resting place."
I read this and think, "Yes. I have forgotten my own Resting Place."
I've tried to "rest" on my own accomplishments, on my reputation, on what other people think of me, on how good of a mom I am, on my plans, on my comfort zone—and the list goes on. I've followed other shepherds instead of sticking close to the Good Shepherd...the only One who can lead me to my true Resting Place.
If the opposite of forgetting is remembering, then I need to "remember" my "own resting place." I know I act on what I remember, so how would I act—what would I do—if I didn't forget but actually remembered my resting place?
Maybe during the Sunday sermon at church, I would wrest my mind away from my work for the week ahead and back to the Word being preached.
Maybe I wouldn't rush through my Bible study homework like it's a fifth-grade math assignment.
Maybe I wouldn't substitute looking good for God with looking for God.
I don't want to be a modern-day member of the "they" Jeremiah wrote about. I don't imagine you do, either. Let's insert our names into the blank—"_____________ remembered her own Resting Place" or "__________ remembered his own Resting Place"—and then ask God, "Make it true of me, O God...make it true of me."
"My faith has found a resting place—
Not in device nor creed;
I trust the Ever-living One—
His wounds for me shall plead.
I need no other argument;
I need no other plea.
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that He died for me."
(From "My Faith Has Found a Resting Place;" words by Lidie H. Edmunds, music Norwegian Folk Melody; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hccUVINhB1c; Don Moen, from "Hymns of Hope.")
If ever I needed a fresh example of the timeless, to-the-point power of God's Word, this Scripture from Jeremiah is it. How incredible is this? An ancient prophet spoke words that would have gotten the attention of the people of His day, yet they still arrest us now...thousands of years later.
"My people...forgot their own resting place."
I read this and think, "Yes. I have forgotten my own Resting Place."
I've tried to "rest" on my own accomplishments, on my reputation, on what other people think of me, on how good of a mom I am, on my plans, on my comfort zone—and the list goes on. I've followed other shepherds instead of sticking close to the Good Shepherd...the only One who can lead me to my true Resting Place.
If the opposite of forgetting is remembering, then I need to "remember" my "own resting place." I know I act on what I remember, so how would I act—what would I do—if I didn't forget but actually remembered my resting place?
Maybe during the Sunday sermon at church, I would wrest my mind away from my work for the week ahead and back to the Word being preached.
Maybe I wouldn't rush through my Bible study homework like it's a fifth-grade math assignment.
Maybe I wouldn't substitute looking good for God with looking for God.
I don't want to be a modern-day member of the "they" Jeremiah wrote about. I don't imagine you do, either. Let's insert our names into the blank—"_____________ remembered her own Resting Place" or "__________ remembered his own Resting Place"—and then ask God, "Make it true of me, O God...make it true of me."
"My faith has found a resting place—
Not in device nor creed;
I trust the Ever-living One—
His wounds for me shall plead.
I need no other argument;
I need no other plea.
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that He died for me."
(From "My Faith Has Found a Resting Place;" words by Lidie H. Edmunds, music Norwegian Folk Melody; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hccUVINhB1c; Don Moen, from "Hymns of Hope.")
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I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to tell me what you really think. Years ago, I explained to my then-two-year-old that my appointment with a counselor was "sort of like going to a doctor who will help me be a better mommy." Without blinking, she replied, "You'd better go every day." All of which is just to say I've spent some time in the school of brutal honesty!