“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28)
A man much wiser than myself liked to quote part of this verse thusly, “I will rest you.” There doesn’t seem to be a lot of rest these days for those who are living their lives for Christ, sleep seems to be the only respite. Where should we start, which blatant sins are being committed in the daylight today, which doom and gloom account from the world could fill our hours, what “newsworthy” event shall we discuss to wile away the day?
How can we rest when evil is revealing itself more and more exponentially nearly every day now, when the masses of humanity seem to have just accepted the coming darkness, have determined to do little else besides lock their doors against it, while many behind the pulpit regale these acts with words but no action?
There is no rest in the middle of a battle my friends.
“Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?” (Psalm 94:16)
Moving forward, that is the call, moving forward toward the enemy, and not just on Sunday morning for an hour or so.
It can be very difficult to fight with only love as your weapon, when the truths of the Word of God simply bounce off those we speak to, when their pride, their selfish desires consume them. We can find little rest when there are so many enemies of the cross. The battle is for their soul, and you are not only attempting to reach them, but you must go through the emissaries of our adversary as well.
“Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.” (Jude 1:9) That stopped Satan from taking the body of Moses, the words of God are our offensive and defensive weapons, but recall Acts 19:15, “And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?”
Do not think that everyone you meet is going to be swayed by the words of God, do not think because you behave in a manner that reveals the truth of the love the Lord has for them that they are going to respond in kind. There is a type of rest we do receive occasionally, when one sinner does repent and come to salvation, when that lost soul is found, and I pray that this happens to you on a regular basis. But sadly, it is not the norm.
You reach out to them and they are polite but unaffected, they listen but do not hear. The same faces in the same places in those pews, not forsaking themselves together, for an hour or so once a week. I wonder, do most who sit there each Sunday see that time as a time of rest, or is it nothing more than an obligation to them, for there is no battle during the week?
The Living God can be greatly glorified in the midst of frustration my friends, if that anger is righteous anger, His name is exalted above the heavens.
The pain of watching the mouth of hell opening wide to accept millions of people every week, of watching more and more “churches” invite the world into their building, of those who profess Christ searching out daily the next news of the world, instead of going out into the world and professing Christ. There is little rest for the man of God these days.
Battle scarred is how you may feel, the weight of your armor bears down on you even as you lay your head down for the night.
There is a permanent rest from this cursed earth awaiting us, contemplate it as you fight the good fight, as you move amongst the wicked searching for the lost.
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jer. 29:11)
