You may believe…

We all have beliefs that we hold about God, Jesus, and the Spirit’s work in our lives. Those beliefs may not be found in who He really is, but what we’ve learned from others or what we’ve created ourselves.

We’re very good at crafting God to fit our own image.

I often catch myself struggling with creating a God who exists because of me. He is there to give me what I want, when I want it, in the ways that I want it. When He doesn’t come through, I’m left pouting and wondering why I’ve been abandoned.

When I was 14 years old, my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. The year that followed was brutal. I spent a lot of time bargaining with God, confessing the fruit of my beliefs and how I wasn’t following Him and promising Him I would change if He would only heal my mother. These are the beliefs of a child, and I was inadvertently putting myself in the centre of a bigger story. I was the powerful one here, and what was happening to others was only because of my actions.

Jesus taught his disciples many times, but there are a few hard lessons that I still struggle with today. Luke 14:25-33 lays out the cost of being a disciple. Mark 8:34-38 invites us to pick up our cross and follow Him. Matthew 24:9-13 talks about coming persecution for those who would follow Him. John 15:18-20 challenges us to consider where our identity comes from.

In Matthew 16:22-23 Peter speaks brashly to Jesus, who just told Peter that He was going to lose His life. Peter fervently shouted that this would never come to be. I get Peter deeply in this moment, because Peter needs Jesus. Jesus has a bigger plan than Peter, however. One that requires a cross-centred perspective, not the Messiah that Peter had created for himself.

We need that same Messiah today.

Practice: Rest

Last week, we practiced being with Jesus. How did that go? Were you able to carve out the time to be alone with Jesus in the stillness and let Him speak to you?

This week, we’re going to build on that, by resting in Jesus. No work. No proving yourself. No ‘doing’ this week.

Jesus promised us that He would take care of the work when we set our eyes, hearts, and souls to resting in Him.

This week, commit to spending 15 minutes a day resting in God.

The same as before, this will seem incredibly foreign and difficult. There may be a huge amount of emotion that surfaces when you begin. Anxiety, fear, anger, envy, doubt, busyness. These are the realities of your life that are pulling you away from resting with God.

Open the Word, and let God speak to you anew. Drink from that deep well – not because you need anything, but because you want to know Him more. He’ll meet you in that space.

Let me leave you with these wonderful statements from Tim Chester’s book You Can Change:

• God is great – so we don’t have to be in control.

• God is glorious – so we don’t have to fear others.

• God is good – so we don’t have to look elsewhere.

• God is gracious – so we don’t have to prove ourselves.

I’ll be praying with you as you move through this week. Let me know how you rested!