Like most years, I hadn't given any thought to what my verse for 2019 might be. Most years it comes to me during a message near the end of the year, so I assumed it would be the same this year. Then I got sick. I have not been sick with anything more than a minor sore throat in over a year and a half, and I would have been quite happy to continue that streak! But mid-December, the flu hit...not just a cold or sore throat...no, I have no doubt this was influenza. I had not experienced anything like this for about 15 years. I remember because Justin was about seven and he was so sick he slept on our bedroom floor. Every night I promised him he'd be better the next day...and every morning he'd wake up and say, "You said I'd be better today!" I thought of that many mornings the past couple of weeks when I woke up sure I'd be better just to find that I wasn't....and I was as miserable as Justin had been!
But as I lay in bed one day, unable to find the energy to move, but also unable to get a good night's sleep, a word came to me...Rest. At the same time, a song began running through my mind. It's one that our first pastor, Ed Johnson, used to sing. Of course, it's called Rest! These are some of the lyrics:
Rest, the Lord is near
Refuse to fear, enjoy His love
Trust, His mighty power
Fills every hour, of all your days
There is no need
For needless worry
With such a Savior
You have no cause to ever
Doubt, His perfect Word
Still reassures, in any trial
Rest, the Lord is there
Lift up your prayer
For He is strong
Trust, He’ll bring release
And perfect peace, will calm your mind
I wish I'd had the energy to write down all the thoughts that came to me at the time...but then again it may have just been the fever that made me think I had some really deep thoughts! I think the jist of it was that every year, even though I don't make new year's resolutions, I go into the new year wanting to be better...to do more. And every year, I fail to meet my own expectations of whatever this illusive 'more' is.
I'm reminded of what Paul said in Romans 7:15,24,25 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that I do. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
All my striving to be more consistent, more determined, more whatever is all ME and my strength, or lack of, when all I really need to do is rest....rest in Jesus, trust in his word, his strength, his power, his love.
Several days later, when I was starting to feel a little better, I started to think about what verse might best embody this word REST, and it came to me in the chorus of a song I wrote many years ago, Come and Rest.
©Deborah Bolack 2006
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Come and rest a little while
by the water so serene.
The peace will bring a smile,
as you sit at Jesus feet.
They that wait upon the Lord,
shall renew their strength.
They shall mount up with wings as eagles.
They shall run and not be weary,
and they shall walk and not faint,
they that wait upon the Lord.
Leave your burdens and your worries
in the Saviour’s caring hands,
and walk beside still waters through
this dry and thirsty land.
They that wait upon the Lord,
shall renew their strength.
They shall mount up with wings as eagles.
They shall run and not be weary,
and they shall walk and not faint,
they that wait upon the Lord.
Bring your worship to the Lord.
Lift your voice and sing his praise.
You’ll find your burdens leaving,
when you glorify his name.
They that wait upon the Lord,
shall renew their strength.
They shall mount up with wings as eagles.
They shall run and not be weary,
and they shall walk and not faint,
they that wait upon the Lord.
Give your heart to serving Jesus,
and he’ll guide you through this life.
You’ll know peace and contentment,
with the Saviour by your side.
They that wait upon the Lord,
shall renew their strength.
They shall mount up with wings as eagles.
They shall run and not be weary,
and they shall walk and not faint,
they that wait upon the Lord.
They that wait upon the Lord.
Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint
Psalm 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Psalm 63:1-3 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
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Psalm 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Psalm 63:1-3 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
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