Photo Credit: Baptist Press
[Today I am in surgery – this from the Archives]
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. – Isaiah 26:3-4
It was an early morning on the streets of Casablanca, Morocco. I was surrounded by other drivers headed for work. They were not in my thoughts – except to stay clear in the crowded intersections where merging and turning happen skillfully and sometimes magically.
My thoughts were centered on the car in front of me where two friends were heading to a hospital. The wife was prepped to have surgery that morning to see if the problem in her abdomen was cancer. I was going with them should she need extra help from another woman and to stand in for her husband…and stand by him. It was the custom there for such things as this.
She was a dear friend in those overseas days – the other mother to my sons. Friends with her son, my guys loved eating at her growing boy-friendly table, or taking over her salon to play video games or watch a movie. This woman was a rock in her family’s lives…and ours. As I watched her, from behind, so small, beside her husband, jostled in the crazy traffic…I prayed.
Troubled with the possibilities and prospects of a life-changing diagnosis, my mind ping-ponged all around, even in prayer. Then, a song came up in my playlist…and every other voice in my head went silent. It was this old song by Steve Green entitled Rest, The Lord Is Near. You hear people tell stories of hearing God speak to them, almost audibly. This was one of those moments for me.
After that, I knew, whatever the outcome of her surgery, that she (we) would be alright. Nothing would change in the larger story of our lives. Most importantly, in that moment, I remembered that God was the same. Loving Father, Great Physician, Tender Comforter, All-Wise God.
The surgery went very well. She would be fine. My boys still love to feast at her table…and we are still friends…although living worlds apart now. What I was reminded that day, in my car alone in Casablanca traffic, was less about healing…or answered prayer…and more about God’s call for us to rest.
Photo Credit: Baptist Press
Sometimes that rest is like the sleep of a child, safe in the care of a loving, watchful parent. Even in Steve Green’s song, he delivers it as a lullaby really. How often we just need an all-out separation from the stresses of life…either in a respite in God’s Word, or a change of place (in our garden or by a sea, any sea, for me)…or sometimes just plain sleep. They are all rest in their turn.
Sometimes the rest is more active, like it was for me that morning. I was still maneuvering through a sea of cars, still watching my friends’ car so I wouldn’t lose them, and still praying. Yet, my state of mind moved from an anxious attention to being “at ease”. The image comes to mind of the military command. It’s defined as “a position of rest in which soldiers may relax but may not leave their places”. Photo Credit: military.com
Sometimes, we can’t leave our situation, our place in the battle. We must be present. We, as believers, are “under orders” from our King. Yet, even in those daily duties, He calls us to rest. I pray today that, whatever you’re facing, you will have moments when you are able to let go and lean into the arms of almighty God…and remember He is just that near.
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
– Romans 8:28
Worship with me:
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
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
Call Him, if you grow frightened
Call Him, with loving care
He’ll lift the burden and you’ll
Rest the Lord is near
Refuse to fear
Enjoy His love
Trust His mighty power
Fills every hour
Of all your days
Rest the Lord is near
Refuse to fear
Enjoy His love*
Photo Credit: Baptist Press
*Lyrics to Rest sung by Steve Green (Lyrics and Music by Phill McHugh And Greg Nelson
YouTube Video – Rest – Steve Green (official music) from Joy to the World album
YouTube Video – Jesus, I am Resting, Resting – Steve Green
YouTube Video – Trust His Heart with lyrics – Babbie Mason
YouTube Video – Like a River Glorious (Stayed Upon Jehovah, Hearts are Fully Blessed) – by Frances Ridley Havergal – one of my favorite hymns growing up