Morning by Morning, October 18 - "In Returning and Rest, Quietness and Trust"
Good morning, Lord Jesus. Be high and lifted up, here in my heart and here in my world. Now, as I watch and wait in the surrender and silence of my morning prayer, I'm listening for Your leading. ...
"For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. But you refused and said, 'No! We will flee upon horses' -- therefore you shall flee! and, 'We will ride upon swift steeds' -- therefore your pursuers shall be swift! .... Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you; therefore He will rise up to show mercy.... Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide Himself any more, but your eyes will see your Teacher. And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it'" (Isaiah 30:15-21).
All that happened to Israel under the Old Covenant is an example to us to teach us spiritual truths and principles for our life in Your Spirit and grace under the New Covenant. "Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did.... We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents. And do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come" (1 Corinthians 10:6-11).
Through their experience and their example, You're teaching us to continually return to You, to rest in You, to trust in You -- not turning to others for the help only You can provide, not depending on ourselves in our own wisdom, our own strength, to do our own will in our own way. You're teaching us that we are given over to the choices we make and the fate of the gods we choose to be the idols of our lives. And in that place of our own choosing, we will eat of the bread of adversity and drink of the water of affliction.
But it doesn't have to be that way. That's not Your heart for us. You're teaching us that apart from You, we can do nothing. And You're teaching us that we never have to be apart from You, but we can always return to You and rest in You, in quietness and in trust, instead of rebellion and pride. For You oppose the proud, but give grace to the humble (James 4:6). And if we humble ourselves in Your sight, You will lift us up -- lift us up into Your embrace, lift us up into Your will and Your grace, lift us up out of our pit of our pride (James 4:10).
Then we can hear Your voice telling us, "This is the way; walk in it," instead of listening to our voice and the voice of the deceiver leading us in the wrong way of our own will apart from Your will. Then we can look and see our Teacher, instead of looking to ourselves and looking to someone else to be our guide or our savior. "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and His Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: I Am the First and the Last; besides Me there is no God.... Is there a God besides Me? Indeed, there is no other Rock; I know not one (Isaiah 44:6-8).
So as best as I can and all by Your grace, I turn to You in returning and rest, in quietness and trust. In humility before You, I willingly choose to be desperately dependent upon You alone. You are my Rock, my Redeemer, my Teacher, and my Strength. You are the One who will guide my steps and direct my path into the fullness of Your complete salvation for me. You are the Voice of the One who speaks behind me, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
My friend, may you return and rest, in quietness and trust, entrusting your will to the One who lifts you up and leads you in the ways to your complete salvation in Him, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend!
Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries
Healing from the Inside Out
Pastoral Director | Rapha God Ministries
4 Dominion Drive, Building 1
San Antonio, Texas 78257
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