Hebrews 4

     The past few years have been a lil crazy for me and mine. A lot of asking "God what is going on?!How will we ever get through this?"

     Not much has changed as far as those circumstances go, however God has been changing me in the mist of it all. God began to take me through Hebrews and it has been rocking my world! Here is how I would describe what we have been going through. Picture this:

The Israelites are in the desert and Moses is up on the mountain hanging out with God getting his socks rocked off. Moses was God's plan for them to know what He wanted them to do. You may not like that plan but that was the plan at the time none-the-less. So anyway, the Hebrews are like "this sucks, I'm scared, I want to know now, I don't what to wait and hear what God has to say, it's taking so long maybe He's not going to say anything at all?!" In that moment they came to a fork in the road. They could wait on God and His timing and plan and promises, or they could turn to their own plan and the things of this world.

     So that's where Luke and I were...at that fork, that scary place of putting God in charge even tho our hearts had been broken, shattered! In this place God started speaking to us about entering His rest. Rest? What does that even mean? By nature Luke and I are both type-A personalities with the mantra that the only way anything gets accomplished is by hard work, and if something isn't changing then you just work harder. How could resting in Him help us? 

For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.
Heb. 4:10

     I don't feel like this means that today I don't take care of my kids, or feed my family or help someone in need if the opportunity arises. I think that this means we rest from "OUR" work, it's a heart thing. We rest from doing what we do best, or not so good, whatever, and we trust in Him! We rest from our plans and follow His plan. This may seem silly for some to trust in such a thing, a God that you cannot see, but He is real and living, He cares for us personally.


...but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.
Heb.4:2

     Wow, this is a lil well, scary. I guess this is what Jesus was talking about when He said do you have ears to hear? We could say that He was asking at the same time "do you have the faith, do you believe in your heart?" Again it all comes down to our hearts. In these verses the writer of Hebrews is talking about the Israelites in the desert. God had a plan. He was providing them food, cloud by day and fire by night. His plan for them was to use Moses to speak to them from Him. Yet they did not keep believing when things were not going according to the PLAN that they wanted...They got tired in their hearts of God's plan, His way of doing things.

      Resting, trusting, believing in the Lord does not mean that the enemy won't come. It does not mean that you won't have to wake up each morning and say, "OK God, a new day for trusting You. I don't have any food or money today, but I am following you so I know you will provide. I feel crazy and have know idea what is going on, but I will trust that You are in control." That day you see Him show up, and you have to do the same thing the next day, and the next, and the next.



Those who first heard the Good News did not receive that rest, because they did not believe.
Hebrews 4:6


Believe: Verb- to have a conviction that (a person or thing) is, has been, or will be engaged in a given action or involved in a given situation. (from dictionary.com)

     Again it's a heart issue. God said they will not enter My rest because they did not believe. You may be saying see He's a terrible God to keep them from rest. Was it Him or them? If I do not believe that my car will drive on a road, is it the car that keeps me from the road or me?

Let us, then, do our best to receive that rest, so that no one of us will fail as they did because of their lack of faith.
Hebrews 4:11

Having faith in the Lord looks different for each of us! That is why we have no place to judge another. We are each called to different levels of faith, BUT, we are all called to have faith, to live in Spirit and in truth. We are all called to believe and NOT let the cares of this world, whatever they may be, keep us from believing what God has spoken to us. Easier said than done, I know! But still doable because we trust a loving, breathing, real God who does not leave us!

Now, God has offered us the promise that we may receive that rest He spoke about. Let us take care, then, that none of you will be found to have failed to receive that promised rest.
Hebrews 4:1

     Something that is really helping me with this as I am learning it is: I am where I am because God has me here to learn something. Then focusing on learning that thing with love! Being content and trusting Him, which are both hard things for me!

     What helps you? Love you all and thank you for stopping in :)


love,
Brit

Comments

  1. Hebrews is such a great book of the Bible in every way and there is so much you can get from it! You wrote such a gorgeous entry.
    I think for me I have a desperation for the Lord to fill me when I am drained and out. He is dependable and worthy of all glory.
    +Victoria+

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