Rest - For the Soul 4/10/18

So now that we have identified and connected with the true rest in our Spirit and see that we have full access at any moment to every resource we could possibly need, how do we teach our soul (mind, will, emotions) to partner with our spirit, to partner with truth, to rest?

In the culture I grew up in the soul was a bad thing. It was just as bad, if not worse than, the flesh! Your mind was terrible horrible and had to be renewed. But if we eliminate our minds where we process info and store info. And our will, which is a gift and which we use to choose, and our emotions, we have eliminated the three major avenues through which we encounter and experience God. 

Because these are the avenue through which we experience Him and by which we receive from Him, We will want these tools to be tuned to His voice, His presence.

Soaking is an awesome way to open ourselves to have an experience with God but one does not always have time to give to soaking.  But there are other ways we can create these opportunities.  Spot Soaking, or Partial Soaking, if you will, doesn’t always have to happen with music (Brooke’s story of coloring and listening to the Bible.)  How do we create an atmosphere in which He can move in us freely - an opportunity - Like rolling forward at a red light to get the radio signal clearly.

Recreate = Re-create 

Entertainment - What has life on it/in it?  What can we do to give the Holy Spirit opportunity to speak to us and to move in and through us? How do we do that? 

Coloring, Play dough, Painting, Dancing, Drawing, Yarn-work, cooking, 

Cooking, Cleaning, Folding Laundry….etc.

The idea is that while your body and mind are occupied, your will & emotions are partnering with the peace that is in your place of rest. If you are intentional in this, you will find that Holy Spirit is always there ready to connect with us and empower us.  Many times we can even hear him calling to us, with a knowing, a peace, a quietness, a longing, etc. something deep calls us to the deep place.

Questions - 

What do you do that makes you feel creative?

What is your favorite mindless activity?

If you could be a carefree kid for one hour, what kid activity would you indulge in?

Are the answers to any of those questions the same?

Do you know how to play?

Think of a time when you are full of Joy.  In His presence is fullness of Joy. That isn't just talking about laughing during worship or ministry time. He wants us to live in His Presence. Putting yourself in your happy place is one way, if done intentionally, to feel the delight of God. He delights in our enjoyment of what He created to delight us with. 

Talk about Buying a gift and waiting forever to give it to someone.  My Dad bought my husband a container of Ovaltine leaving $20 in the lid and Gary did not find it for weeks! My dad kept asking about it and was anticipating the day when it would be discovered.

There is an excellent article from Graham Cooke called “The Power to Choose Rest”:

Having our Soul rest boils down to a practical level.

We must maintain, however, that our help comes from the Lord.

(Psalm 121:2 Our true help and protection come only from the Lord, our Creator who made the heavens and the earth.) If I am resting on my bed and I see something I need, or want, on my dresser, I can reach out, stretch out, hang over the side of my bed and try to manipulate it with my fingertips until it falls tot he floor and I end up having to get up out of bed to get it anyway……or….. I can just ask my Husband to grab it for me.  He is standing right there. Watching me struggle, offering help, waiting. It is so easy when we see what is at our disposal to forget that Our Husband, The King of Kings, wants this to be a joint effort, a partnership, He wants to help us. (Isaiah 30:18 Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!) Justice = Jesus gets what He deserves.  

Stay connected to Him in rest. Then partner with Him.  Don’t try to make your soul rest. 

If you wrestle with your soul you are just fighting yourself. In your soul, decide to partner with your spirit which is already resting on Jesus.

Research indicates that in order to form, a tornado needs both a cold, rainy downdraft and a warm updraft. To stop a tornado from forming, just heat this cold downdraft until it's cold no longer.

We can, at times, find ourselves spiraling in a wicked vortex of anxiety, frustration, doom, or panic.  These can be set off my circumstances, relationships, finances, or the weather…..pretty much anything.  If you are a rationalizer, like me, the difficulty is to be able to let go and walk away when the problem has not been resolved.  But many times that is exactly what we need to do. Lets read Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Now let’s set that on fire….. (TPT)

Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will make the answers known to you through Jesus Christ.

Aha! 

Pray throughout the day.

Overflowing Gratitude.

Live your life with Him - in detail.

Peace that transcends Human Understanding. (without resolution)

Answers made known.

I love it when Graham talks about replacing thoughts with the opposite - or “opposite thinking”. Take whatever that negative thought is and replace it with the opposite.  Listen to the way you talk about your problem or situation.  Do you approach it in a negative manner?  Turn it around.  

Instead of saying “God we barely have enough money to make it to the end of the month and just when I thought we were getting ahead the car broke down and we had to drain our savings, again!” Wah-wah-wah-wah!

Try this: “Father thank you that every month your provide everything we need!  Thank you that when the car broke down we had enough cash to fix it without going into debt!  Thank you that you are a good Father who knows how to take good care of His children.  I declare my trust in you!” If you can pray that way, you can encourage yourself right out of a spiral and get under that warm downdraft that will end the tornado! 

Maintaining rest in your soul is really about connecting to the Father.  Can’t sleep at night? Try soaking. It will help you to lay each troubling thing in the hands of Jesus and quiet your mind. Having trouble with your will? Keeping a commitment, resisting a temptation, being disciplined? Connect with The Father in a place of rest and partner your soul to run with Him. Sometimes we get worked up about stuff we want to accomplish or maintain and its not even something He ever asked us to do.  When we connect with Him we can hear Him tell us to let go.  We can also find that the very simple things we struggle with are important to Him and that he can and will help us even in the meaningless details of our lives.

Yesterday I was helping my son get on his boots so that he could play in the spring snow. His zipper was super stuck.  The teeth were not properly aligned and the fabric in the boot was severely stuck in the zipper as well. I could not for the life of me get that thing undone!  It was so frustrating.  In the middle of my struggling I heard that wonderful stillness echo through my heart and I paused. Took a deep breath. Jesus was calling me.  I recognized it. Ask, He said, and you will receive.  So I did. “Will you help me with this zipper - so meaningless in the grand scheme of things really, I could just pull it on his foot this way.”  Without thinking twice I started tugging again and the fabric slid right out!  I was stunned!  “OK, how do I fix the zipper?” In my mind I saw myself lay it over a corner of the table and bang on it with the end of a butterknife. So that is what I did. And it worked. Frustration Ended. Children played in the snow. Thanksgiving flowed

REST FOR THE SOUL

Psalm 131:2 

I am humbled and quieted in your presence.

    Like a contented child who rests on its mother’s lap,[a]

    I’m your resting child and my soul is content in you.

Psalm 121:2 

Our true help and protection come only from the Lord, 

our Creator who made the heavens and the earth.

Isaiah 30:18 

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; 

therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. 

For the Lord is a God of justice. 

Blessed are all who wait for him!

Philippians 4:6-7

Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. 

Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, 

offering your faith-filled requests before God 

with overflowing gratitude. 

Tell him every detail of your life, 

then God’s wonderful peace 

that transcends human understanding, 

will make the answers known to you 

through Jesus Christ.

Psalm 42

5 So then, my soul, why would you be depressed?

    Why would you sink into despair?

    Just keep hoping and waiting on God, your Savior.

    For no matter what, I will still sing with praise,

    for living before his face is my saving grace!

8 Yet all day long God’s promises of love pour over me.

    Through the night I sing his songs,

    for my prayer to God has become my life.

11 So I say to my soul,

“Don’t be discouraged. Don’t be disturbed.

    For I know my God will break through for me.”

 Then I’ll have plenty of reasons to praise him all over again.

    Yes, living before his face is my saving grace!