Rest
…At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat Genesis 8:3-4, ESV
In Hebrew: nuwach means to rest, to remain, to be quiet. God brought the ark to a place of rest. There are seasons in our lives when God will bring us to a place of rest. He will remove us from everything. I remember that Joyce Myer once told a story about a tea cup that was put in the furnace, then taken out and put on a shelf for a while before it was painted. Later it was put back into the furnace and then on the shelf to rest. Her story was like a parable of our own lives.
I remember when God told me to remove myself from everything I was doing at the church. He had me remove myself from Bible study and prayer groups. He literally sat me down and took me to a place of rest. He would not let me do anything. Everything became so quiet. I did not even know what to do with myself. When I think about the ark the water had abated and it had come to rest on a rock. I could not understand why God had brought me to that place of stillness. But just like the ark had another assignment, so did I. The ark could not fulfill its next assignment until it was completely still. Everything that was in the ark had to unloaded, but to do that the ark had to be at rest.
I could not hear from God and get to the place where he wanted without being still. I needed to be quiet in my spirit, but there were activities that were taking me away from what God wanted most for me. He needed to pour into me and it could not happen with me consistently moving.
Quietness came over me. He blocked all my friends and would not let me call or talk to anyone without his permission. As a matter of fact I still do that now and I love it! It was a time for me to learn how to sit and not just hear God, but to listen to God. I believe when God sits us down for a rest there is more going on in our souls than we could ever imagine. It is a special kind of rest that we cannot give ourselves. The ark could not rest until God removed all the water. Remember that when God removes everything from you, he is not trying to take something from you, but give something to you. Enjoy the season of rest that he puts you in!
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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