Rowboat or Sailboat?

by Nov 6, 2020Easy and Light

Rowboat or Sailboat?

For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
In quietness and trust shall be your strength.”
But you would not.

Isaiah 30:15

Ihave been thinking a lot about God’s way of love and His unshakable Kingdom of Light. All around us there is very real darkness, fear, anxiety and uncertainty about the future. When I watch the news my heart aches with the weight of suffering and the ever increasing darkness of this world. It’s actually too much to bear. Because we are not meant to bear it. There is only One who is strong enough to carry it and He has already done that. Jesus bore our weight of suffering, He took on the brokenness of this world and accomplished our healing on the cross.

Do You need Someone to carry your burden today? Listen to His invitation: Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. (Matthew 11:28-29, emphasis mine)

Do you feel in need of REST? Turn to Jesus. I once hear that we can either live as a rowboat or a sailboat. In the rowboat we can be feverishly striving, rowing with all of our might, exhausted in our own attempts and efforts to please God. In the sailboat however, we catch the wind of God’s Holy Spirit and surrender to where He is at work and God takes us where He wills in useful service.

In these unprecedented days of fear, chaos and suffering all over the world, I am daily practicing a spiritual discipline of surrender and trust. In John Eldredge’s book “Get Your Life Back,” he talks about taking two sixty-second breaks per day. He has developed an app remind you to take a One-Minute Pause twice a day to be still and to let everything go. “Jesus – I give everyone and everything to You. Jesus – I need more of You: fill me with more of You God! Restore our union, fill me with Your Life!” You will be surprised at what just a minute pause in your day can do for your soul. Will you join me in this practice?

There is so much I don’t understand, but I’m leaning into His character and trusting His love and mercy. We live in this world which seemingly is held in the grip of disease and darkness, deceit and fear. But this will not be forever. This storm will pass.Those of us who know Jesus as Savior know how this story ends so we can live with a confident hope.

We are called to share that hope with others. Today would you join me in asking God how you can help those struggling in darkness around you? Let’s keep the eyes and ears of our hearts open to hear His whisper to love, to give, to pray – YOU can ease someone’s suffering today and introduce them to our Beloved Savior – the only Hope for this world.

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