Resting

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 100:4-5 NIV

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.                                                                                                                John 15:5 ESV

J. Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission, was on the verge of a nervous breakdown when a fellow missionary wrote him about ceasing from his own work and simply abiding in Jesus. These were life-giving words to Taylor. About that time Taylor’s sister sent him the words of a hymn that she had recently come across. This hymn, the first words of which are “Jesus, I am resting, resting, in the joy of what thou art; I am finding out the greatness of they loving heart,” captured perfectly what Taylor was experiencing and became the theme song of his life.

The second verse of the hymn captures several of the attributes of Yahweh that enable us to rest in him with perfect confidence:

“O how great thy lovingkindness, vaster, broader than the sea.

O how marvelous thy goodness lavished all on me.

Yes, I rest in thee, Beloved, know what wealth of grace is thine,

Know thy certainty of promise, and have made it mine.

The verse highlights three of the attributes of God’s holy character: lovingkindness, goodness, and utter reliability. When you and I are at the ends of our ropes, we can rest in the truth that our God is characterized by an unselfish, self-giving, self-denying love for us. He is determined to give his best for us. Bask in the assurance of that care.

Yahweh is good. What does that mean? It means that every desire of his heart is aimed toward our flourishing. He is for us in every circumstance, good, bad, or indifferent. He always wants to lavish good things on us.

Yahweh is true (faithful). That is, he always keeps his word; he is true to it. As the song says, his promises will never fail. He will always do what he says. He will never tell a lie and will never break a promise.

This is the God who invites us to rest, abide, in him. Why would we not?