Vineyard Church | Weekly Update November 20th, 2024
Nov 20, 2024
I have witnessed some spectacular failures in my time. Some surprised me, others that there was some inkling that the plan wouldn’t work, but the final result exceeded my expectations of catastrophic demise. Some of these failures have provided me with entertaining stories of jack-wagonery; others have become lessons learned (but sometimes rarely applied).
Usually, while reviewing an epic failure, I find something that leads me to the question, “How on earth did I miss that?” It doesn’t matter what “that” is, other than what I always miss before contacting an insurance agent. The unauthorized autobiography of my life will likely carry the title, “How on Earth Did I Miss That.”
Unfortunately, this applies to the journey of my faith in God… I have missed so much. I have a Bible, I read the Bible, I have been taught, I have prayed, and I seemingly have all the tools available to actually understand what is going on, but often, I miss it. What I found in my ancient days of my mid-forties is that the reason I keep missing it is that I didn’t even get it in the first place.
My starting place was in error. Spending years studying land navigation in the Marine Corps, I can tell you that if you don’t know where you are it is pretty hard to find where you are supposed to go. This is an even bigger problem if you THINK you know where you are and step off confidently towards where you are supposed to go.
Last week, I rambled through misunderstanding the character of God, and how that leads to misunderstanding how the sabbath is designed to serve us rather than us serving the sabbath… Today’s misunderstanding is on the very word “rest.” How on earth could I miss the meaning of the word rest? Rather than unpack that nonsense, let’s press into what rest truly means in the context of the 6+1 sabbatical rhythm. How about Psalm 37:7 to help us out…
7 Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Psalm 37:7 (NLT)
Some translations will say “rest” in the place of “be still,” and others use “be quiet,” “be calm,” or “be silent.” All of these demonstrate that what rest means in the context of our relationship with God is to dwell in surrendered peace.
Rather than jumping into a Holy Hammack for a nap, our sabbatical rest is an exercise in surrender and stillness. Not physical rest, relaxing, napping, or having “me” time, but the spiritual rest of leaving the arena of the 6 days of work and the confusion, worry, stress, chaos, and striving to enter into recharging, resetting, rest in the presence of God.
What this understanding allows us to do is live in the reality that our faith does not make us immune to the storms of life, it actually might call us into more of them. With the reality that rest is coming, we can enter the fray and grind for 6 days, then quiet ourselves in the presence of the Almighty, and enjoy the promise of His rest.
As a starting point, let’s focus together on leaving the arena of work this week. Come to our worship time together free of the trappings of work and be ready to enter into the presence of the Lord. As we still ourselves, together we can experience rest!
Adam Greenwell
Pastor
Billings Vineyard Church | www.billingsvineyard.org
Stay connected with news and updates!
Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.
Don't worry, your information will not be shared.
We hate SPAM. We will never sell your information, for any reason.