The Fear of Rest
By Mike Rule

If we stop and think a moment, somewhere deep inside we all hear something (or someone) telling us we need to "do" more. We hear we cannot sit still, but MUST get busy and be about the Lord's work. When we are tapped into the source of Life itself (Jesus) and are trusting Him to be our motivation and our source for everything, is it likely that we will turn into self-indulgent, lazy, slothful, good for nothing people? Our belief that we need to work harder to improve our spiritual condition proves we are living in doubt and fear, not faith. We lack confidence that He who has begun a good work in us will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

If I had my finger in a light socket, nothing would happen until someone turned on the switch. Once they did, I would not be the same! My life would be greatly affected. There is a period of time when nothing SEEMS to be happening. The work in a person's heart takes precedence over external behavior. When everything is in place inside, the external will happen once God flips the switch. I am not saying there is ever a one time fix, but rather it is a moment by moment choice to receive. Our part is to show up, God will do the rest. The internal preparation may take years, but that is God's decision. If we look at scripture we see that each person God worked through had times of seeming inactivity. Moses waited 40 years; for Jesus it was over 30 years, for Paul it was 3 years. God determines that, not us.

It is difficult to take up the challenge to trust God with our lives. Often it is even more difficult to trust God with the lives of others. The challenge is to walk in faith and not by sight. This is the life of trusting God rather than taking things into our own hands and trying to make something happen. This is the life of faith not fear.