Faith is a rest

When I talk about faith, many believers are very familiar with this verse Mark 11:24 "For assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea.' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says." In summary, this verse simply tell us to believe and receive. Along with this verse, there is also another verse that talks about confessing what you believe. 2 Cor 4:13 says 'And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written,"I believed and therefore I spoke", we also believe and therefore speak.'

But do you also know that faith is really a rest? All these things about believing and confessing are well and good until you make it into a form of works or formula. How do one make faith into works or performance? When you feel that you need to confess 10 times a day that you have what you believe or that you keep telling yourself that you must believe and not doubt, if not you will nulify your faith. Well, this happened to me. That's when I put my focus more on my faith instead of God's grace to fulfil what He promised. I was more conscious of my faith (or lack of faith) than God's power to answer prayers. That, my friends, is works or self-efforts even though faith itself is not works.

The acid test of whether you really believe that those things you ask for will be done is this: you enter into rest. Heb 4:3 says 'For we who have believed do enter that rest'. It is only when you truly believe what God says that you cease from all self-efforts or toilsome worry and rest. When you cannot rest, it shows that you are still concerned about the issue at hand, perhaps thinking that if you do nothing, then really nothing will happen. Heb 4:10 says 'For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.'

Having said all this, I know from experience that it is really very difficult to rest...especially when you have waited for a very long while for a promise to come to pass. You started out strong in faith, restful and assured that God has spoken to you. Then a period of time passed and not only did you not see the manifestation of your promise, things started to get worse. You wonder: did you hear God correctly or is it because my faith is not strong enough? You start to review all the possibilities of what could have gone wrong. When that happens, you get into unrest and all kinds of cares come into your heart. Your heart becomes troubled and that peace or rest you have started off with becomes so elusive...sounds familiar?

Many of us are postponing our enjoyment and rest until the thing we desire manifests. No wonder the bible tells us to 'labour to enter into that rest', which is quite an oxymoron. How does one labour to enter into rest? Firstly, we can rest when we realise where we are seated in Christ. Eph 2:6 says that God has seated us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And where are our problems and challenges? They are far far below the right hand of God where Jesus is seated. These problems we face have been put under Jesus' feet. We are praying from victory, not for victory. That truth will bring you rest.

Secondly, we can learn to cast our cares to the Lord. A Christian life is a life of 'letting go and letting God'. When we are striving and in toilsome labour, we are not letting go. We are still holding on to that issue very tightly, thinking that if we don't do it, then no one will. Frankly speaking, if God doesn't do it, what can we do? But God can and He will perform what He promised. When you let go, the thing that you desire may not manifest immediately but it definitely will when your due season has come. God will never let those who trusts Him be disappointed.  God wants His children to live life relaxed and restful. He knows that when you are at rest, all His blessings will flow unhindered into our lives. But when we are restless, fear can easily come into a heart that is troubled.

Thirdly, after we cast our cares to the Lord, we give thanks to Him and worship. We thank God in advance for the answered prayer. We continue to praise Him for His goodness and focus on all the blessings He has showered on you. Whenever I thank the Lord for His blessings on my life, I cannot help but praise Him because my heart is filled with gratitude. He opened my eyes to see that I am already so blessed and in such an enviable position. Because I have Jesus, I have everything. I know Jesus loves me so much and I am conscious of His love for me in big and small ways.

One of the ways the Lord showed me in the process of waiting is to bask in His love for me. Being caught up in a world of love with Jesus causes you to be oblivious of time and things happening around you. When I am beholding Jesus in my eyes, nothing else matters anymore. When I focus on God's love for me, I naturally find myself resting. The other way is to worship the Lord. When you worship Him, your mind is absorbed in His power and His presence. When you worship Him, there is no place for worry or doubts in your mind.  Oh how wonderful is my Saviour!