Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." Psalm 91:1&2
About ten years ago, I attended a women’s retreat put on by our old church family. During that time of my life, I was incredibly busy – working full time, running my own business, being a wife and mother, volunteering, and serving in ministry at our church. I tend to be an over-achiever and my husband always tells me I take on too much. That was certainly the case at that time in my life! I felt guilty if I wasn’t working, doing, moving… so much to do, so little time. The word “rest,” was not in my vocabulary. I didn’t know how to rest. It felt wrong to rest.
God was working on me big time… telling me to, well… rest! I resisted. Not because the idea didn’t sound wonderful and much needed, but because I didn’t know how. What do I give up? What will suffer? What will I miss out on? God kept telling me that it is not only okay to rest, but He commanded it!
So here I am at the retreat, and our theme was “Bling from the King” based on Isaiah 54:10-13, that God’s love for us will not be shaken, and He will rebuild us with value. Our very foundation will be built with jewels, turquoise, sapphires, rubies and precious stones. So what does this have to do with rest? Well… perhaps nothing. That’s the irony. The retreat really wasn’t about that at all, but God knew what I needed and He met me there! Throughout the three-day retreat, there were constant references to rest by our speaker, perhaps subtle, but I heard them. It was also brought up during small group time, and even during our fun activities. I kept hearing God whispering to me. Rest. Rest. It’s okay… Rest. Maybe no one else heard what I did, I don’t know.
On our last night, we spent significant time in prayer and seeking. One activity the ladies had planned for us was that there was a basket up front filled with scripture verses. There were many – more than enough for each of the 125 ladies to choose one randomly. The prayer of the speaker was that God would choose just the perfect verse for each of us and that it would speak to us.
My verse was Psalm 91:1: Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High, will rest in the shadow of the Almighty… there it was! Rest. Of all verses, this is the one God chose for me! I knew without a shadow of a doubt that God was trying to tell me something! First, though, I had to do my part which is to dwell, or live in, or abide in the shelter of the Most High. I must stay there – under His protection by being obedient to Him. God promised me if I did, He would give me rest under His shadow. What better place is there to be?
I am thankful that we serve a God who is faithful and true and knows just what we need, just when we need it.