Come Unto Me, I Will Give You Rest

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.
Isaiah 41:10 NLT

 The explanation from the Lucado Encouraging Word Bible:

When we try to carry our burdens alone, we crumble. Only when we give our troubles to God can we truly rest and enjoy all that comes with God’s grace.

We find it easier to trust the miracle of resurrection than the miracle of grace. We so fear failure that we create the image of perfection, lest heaven be even more disappointed in us than we are. The result? The weariest people on earth.

Attempts at self-salvation guarantee nothing but exhaustion. We scamper and scurry, trying to please God, collecting merit badges and brownie points, and scowling at anyone who questions our accomplishments. Call us the church of hound-dog faces and slumped shoulders.

Stop it! Once and for all, enough of this frenzy. “Your hearts should be strengthened by God’s grace, not by obeying rules” (Heb 13:9 NCV). Jesus does not say, “Come to me, all you who are perfect and sinless.” Just the opposite. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28).

There is no fine print. A second shoe is not going to drop. God’s promise has no hidden language. Let grace happen, for heaven’s sake. No more performing for God, no more clamoring after God. Of all the things you must earn in life, God’s unending affection is not one of them. You have it. Stretch yourself out in the hammock of grace.

You can rest now. 

Prayer:

Father,
           Thank You for Your promise of rest. Thank You for Your Grace which seems to escape our ability to fully comprehend. Help us to understand and to learn how to rest in Your rhythms of Grace. Unearned. Without performing. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen