We have all done it! I have for sure and for certain! You know what I am talking about — don’t be coy! That time, or many times, while we are driving — especially when we are driving somewhere we have never been before — the radio is playing and we are doing our best to read the street names — admit it, you turn down the radio volume or you turn it off altogether. Ha! Pinned ya, didn’t I?
Why do you think we all do that when we are looking for a street? Does the volume of the radio heighten or diminish our ability to see where we are going? I know…maybe our brain works better when there isn’t much noise around us to interfere with what we need to be concentrating on at that time. Maybe it is both or maybe it is neither — I think it ought to be studied by great minds…or maybe not! In any event, I have a theory!
When we are out driving, a lot is going on around us…there is a lot of traffic…the radio is playing loudly…maybe the kids are in the backseat complaining that so and so is touching them…it has already been a hectic day, and now you cannot find the street you are seeking to turn on to. Yeah, turning the volume down on the radio can sure help sometimes — it helps to unclutter our brain and free us to look for the crazy street sign. It works…doesn’t it?
It can be true in our lives with many things. The New Year has brought with it long lists of things that need to be done. Many made resolutions to help them jump ahead of the New Year and be prepared for this year! Many of our government workers are clamoring to make the ends meet — mortgage payments, insurance payments, tuitions, oh — and that sustaining element called food. Maybe you are one of them and don’t see any end in sight and that coupled with all of the other items on your 2019 task list — well, it gets loud and chaotic. Oh, I do understand — how did a brand new year, with no mistakes in it yet, become so demanding and unrelenting so quickly?? Surely this was not supposed to happen!
Well, when we cannot change the circumstances of all that is buzzing around us — when we just cannot seem to find that next turn — God provided a way for us to turn down the volume! How, you ask? I’m glad you asked!
In Psalm 46:10 (ESV), it says:
Be still, and know that I am God.
The still in Hebrew is raphah and it means to cease, leave, or stay. God gave us that out so that we could come and rest for a bit in Him from all the striving and running around. In fact, if you look at the New American Standard Bible, it says, “Cease striving and know that I am God.” He understands that life can become quite messy and loud and overwhelming and so He gave us permission to stop…cease…be still from the messiness and loudness.
However, God did not just give us permission — He gave us His example! In the beginning…you know the account…God created! Then when He had finished His Creation, He rested!
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. (Genesis 2:1-3 NASB)
There it is — God turned down the volume — the Creator of all set aside a full day to rest from His work! What a wildly, all-knowing God who knew that we would need rest and therefore He set an entire day aside for us to find it!
Each day, set time aside to be in His Word — resting in His love — so that you can make the next turn. Set aside a day of Sabbath rest — it is a wonderful time to draw closer to God through Christ — after all, Christ became our Sabbath rest. Turn life’s volume down and cease your striving, dear one, and rest in Him!
So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. (Hebrews 4:9-10 NASB)
Azalea Trees and Tea Rooms 