I'm Restless
I tend to be an aggresive person and don't like for grass to grow under me...much. Over the past few months I continue to find myself feeling more and more restless, like there's something on the horizon, I just don't know what it is. Do you ever feel that way? My life is a good life, have a wonderful wife and family, love my church and pastor, enjoy living in the warm South, and am extremely thankful to have missed being hit by a hurricane.
Yet something inside of me is restless, perhaps dissatisfied. Could it be that God doesn't want us to be satisfied. Think of this, if you are a pastor and your goal is for your church to reach 500 in attendance...will you be satisfied in getting there, staying there, or going beyond that place?
If you have purchased your dream home, will you stop short of decorating it, landscaping, and maintaining it? Could it be that our walk with God is much the same? That we are thrilled with who God is and what He is doing in our lives, but there will always be a desire to move nearer to Him and grow in His grace...Maybe I'm just going crazy...but I'm still restless!
12 comments:
Hey, Neil, great thought. Psalm 107:9 says, "For He satifies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness". Every spiritual satifaction we need is found in Him. But, I believe that He allows us to sense that "dissatifaction" to keep us pressing on, and drawing closer to Him. It's almost paradoxal- He satisfies us to lead us to more satisfaction. The verse I am thinking of is Phil. 3:12- "Not as though I have already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus" Just my 2 cents, bro! God bless.
~Jeff
I lean towards that satisfaction is a temporary thing. In the natural when I am hungry, I eat to satisfy that hunger... knowing that soon I will hunger again. I think that the same can me in the spiritual. God does satisfy our longing soul of what it needs, but just as our physical body will grow hungry again, so does our spirit man. But I guess that's what you were getting at Jeff :)
I pray that we all remain hungry after what God has for our lives and for our ministries and our wlaks with Him. Getting comfortable where we are at is a scarey thought.
I caught a phrase in a portion of scripture last night that has taken over my thoughts. In Hebrews 4:6 it says that there still a rest and that some must enter it. Some time ago the Holy Spirit dropped a word into my spirit saying that we as believers are great at receiving God's promises, but we must learn to possess them. I think that's part of the dissatisfaction factor, we enjoy receiving the promise of what God has for us, but it's an entirely different story to actually possess it. There are people that have gone for years absolutely never obtaining anything, it's always just around the corner. I understand faith, that throughout the bible there were people who died in faith having not received the promise...but I also believe that some people are more interested in being able to say they have a promise than possessing one.
Yeah, there's definitely a difference between claiming a promise and possessing the land. Some guys seem to be great Moses types- they can "lead the people out"...but then there are others....Joshuas...those that "lead the people in."
I thank God for the Moses-style ministry (the good Lord knows there are some things we all need to be delivered "from"), but I also want to go into the Canaan that God has ordained for me and drive out all of the "'ites" and giants that stand in my way just like Joshua.
He is able and He is faithful
Hallelujah!
Be blessed
-Henry
Wow Henry! What an awesome correlation...Moses seeing and leading, Joshua leading and possessing. I wish I had thought of that...I'm promise I'll not only think on it, I'll use that. From this point on you will be known as "one man said!"
It is true, some people have the ability to see things and for others to see those things with them, while others have the ability to possess what others have only seen. What also comes to mind is that one of the reasons some can't possess is because of themselves. Moses was supposed to possess the promise, he simply messed up along the way. A courageous leader he was, just got in the way of himself. Powerful thought! Thanks!
Feel free to use it any time-it's not original material (I picked it up somewhere along the journey myself) -LOL
Although I'm more than honored to be your "one man said..." source if you so choose. :)
Henry,
I actually used it a little on this past Sunday morning while receiving a special offering for our senior pastor. He is quite visionary and has determined to remain and see the vision fulfilled. What speaks to me about this thought is the fact that many of us never see the promise land, not because of the reasons Moses lost out, but because of our own issues, stuff that keeps us from the promised land.
Actually, from Josh. 1:4 it seems that there was much more that Israel could have possessed, "from the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates". God did tell them that they would possess every place "the sole of your foot shall tread upon" (v.3). God has so much for us. With His help, how much will we actually possess? Just another thought from this feeble preacher.
~Jeff
So the rest of God is not the end of progression, it is the obtaining of what is promised. And we rest in the reality that we are we're supposed to be, doing and obtaining what we're supposed to do and obtain? In music, isn't a rest a pause-a brief delay that continues. Somewhere in the OT it says that God gave rest to Israel from their enemies. Perhaps this rest is related to what Francis Frangipane calls the place of immunity, it's not that the stuff ends, it just doesn't affect us like it used to!
This is a very interesting study. Now, Hebrews says that there remains a rest for the people of God. It also says that Joshua didn't give that rest, speaking in context of course of Christ being the one we find rest in. The Hebrews eventually found rest in the land, yet David centuries later wrote of another rest for God's people (see Hebrews 4?). While we have that Sabbath-rest in Christ, He still leads us further in Him. This can make my head spin!
MP, let's explore this in the comparison of purchasing a house. Suppose that for years you have wanted your own home, perhaps God has prophetically made the promise of one to you. The day arrives when you enter that home...does the work stop there, not at all. Your rest begins because you have inherited the promise, but now you have to possess the house, maintain it, and make it your home. It is always a work in progress. You know, after the lawn is mowed and the weeds are whacked, there's laundry or a curtain to be hung, or a window to fix. The difference is it's yours and you are working towards perfecting it...always progressing. What makes it rest is that you don't have to, you get to and more importantly...want to.
Could it just be that this is the same principle concerning the rest of God. When we come to Him we come with a prophetic promise that He will accept and forgive us, that He has given us an inheritance. Once we begin our journey with Him, we belong to Him and it's not a matter of escaping hell, we want to walk with Him and He wants to walk with us...we get to hang out, we get to continue progressing in Him.
Are we on to something? This thing has really gotten a hold of me.
Yea, me too. Good illustration. Actually, we bought our house a year and a half ago, and yes, there is always stuff that needs to be done. As Christ is our refuge, e find rest in Him, yet we are always pressing on in our relationship with Him. As I said in my first response, Phil. 3:12, chasing after to apprehend Him who apprehended us.
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