The Lord wants to step into our stress and give us His peace...

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Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes -- Psalm 37: 7 (NASB)

We can tend to be so restless as human beings. We carry out schedules that are packed with activities and responsibilities and then seek out even more to fill the nooks and crannies. Many work more than one job now, raise more than one child, serve in more than one ministry, and as a result are stressed at more than one point during the day! The World health statistics 2012 report revealed that now one in every three people worldwide has high blood pressure. The church is not immune. We work the same jobs, have the same kids, and pack the same schedules. Yet that is not the design God has for His people, which we know from Scripture:

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. -- 1Peter 5: 7 (NLT)

It is the design of God for His people to be blessed -- not stressed! Like Martha we are worried about so many things, while Mary has discovered what is best -- sitting at the feet of Jesus. In that great story Mary has discovered what we all seek; rest. The dictionary defines rest as, " relief or freedom, especially from anything that wearies, troubles, or disturbs ." Well let's be fair, nearly everything in this world wearies, troubles or disturbs us! We grow weary of our job. We are troubled by our economy. We are disturbed by the seeming uncertainty in the life. It is interesting that the definition provides the two sides of rest that we desperately need -- relief and freedom. God does not just seek to provide us with comfort from what stresses us but He also seeks to provide us with the freedom in Christ to avoid stress to begin with.

There are two halves to the key verse with each half containing two points for us today. The second half has God providing two specific examples of things that He knows will typically cause us unrest and He is assuring us that we ought not to allow them to affect us as so. The first is because of him who prospers. The sad truth is that we constantly compare ourselves to other people. We see other people as being more blessed than we are, more favored, or more prosperous. There are two major reasons for this. First of all we live in a society that sells riches and prosperity as the goal and a church system that too often agrees! Secondly however is the fact that we continue to misunderstand prosperity as God intends it. Yes it is true that some in the Bible were very prosperous in the things of this world but that is not prosperity for everyone. The Bible specifically says that while Joseph was a slave in Potiphar's house, God prospered him. Later when he found himself in prison for something he did not do, the Bible again says God prospered him.

So when we see this admonition from the Psalmist I think what God is saying is we need to stop comparing ourselves to other people. Because invariably we always find someone we think is doing better than we are. We of course do not know what their life is really like, what their sacrifices are, or what valleys they have gone through. If we cut out the comparison game, we will find ourselves with less fretting and thus, less stress. Focus on all that God has given you and not what you see others have that you do not have. Remember what God has promised:

And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. -- Philippians 4: 19 (NLT)

Not gold and silver -- but Christ! The second part of the second half of the key verse is God telling us to not fret about evil. We see people all the time prospering in the world who range from cutting corners to being flat out evil. We even see it inside the church as well. We look and we think in our hearts how unfair it is. How unfair life is at times. That is how Elijah felt when he hid in the cave worrying about the wicked Jezebel and he asked God to end his life. God does not want us in despair. He is saying here that we need to stop fretting about the wicked. We keep focusing on the wrong life! No one escapes the final judgment of God.

For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. -- 2Corinthians 5: 10 (NLT)

Nobody gets away with anything forever, nobody. Evil will always exist but God will always triumph. Stop focusing on other people and stop fretting about all the evil in the world. The first half of the key verse also contains two main points. The first is that we need to exercise more patience than we do. Let's face it, we are impatient people! We live in a microwave society and we just feel that we do not have the time to tarry. But the ways of God are so far above our ways and His timing is always perfect. I know my timing has always been less than stellar in my life! When Joseph was released from jail he went from the prison to the palace in one day! If he had been released just one day earlier that never would have happened! God's timing is what we need to focus on. If that means wait patiently, then we wait patiently, even in the valley. Remember the Bible says He is working all things out for our good, so we need to trust better in His timing.

Which brings us to the final point and the main point for this devotional -- rest in the Lord. We tend to seek our rest everywhere else first. We seek our rest in the things of this world. Recreation, sports, vacations. Sometimes it can even be more destructive as we seek rest in alcohol and drugs -- legal or otherwise. There is nothing this world can offer you that can provide you the rest the Lord can. I love to go on cruises but after the seven days are done, they are just memories. There is not a lot of rest in memories. But the rest God can provide can last forever. Why? Because it is not based on the situations of our lives but rather the Savior of our souls. It is based upon the promises of God not the fleeting lies of this world. We find rest in His Word because it reinforces His promises and character. We find rest in prayer because we can hear directly from Him. We find rest in worship because we are ushered into the very presence of the Prince of Peace! Do not fret today beloved. Forget other people. Forget the wicked. Sit at the feet of the master today and wait patiently for Him, finding the rest that only He can provide.

Rev. Anthony

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.