The Rest is Given, Not Earned

[S] 2 Chronicles 14:6 --
  ⁶He built fortified cities in Judah, since the land was undisturbed, and there was no one at war with him during those years, because the LORD had given him rest.

[O] King Asa ruled according to what was right in God's eye and as God honored that He allowed his reign to live in rest away from wars and disturbance.  Other kings had no interest of following God and took matters into their own hands to establish the rest by conquering other nations around them.  But instead of rest it created more disturbance and on top of that drew them more into the idol worshiping away from God even more throwing them into a vicious cycle.  King Asa's reign, however, was different "because LORD had given him rest."   This is a principle I must not forget because my life now seems far from being restful with so much going on and I am trying to find a way to create that restfulness when the key lies with living an upright life for God first and then He will give me the rest I deserve.

This reminds me of the story of a successful businessman who went on a vacation to a small port city and one day when he met a fisherman resting in his front porch overlooking the ocean he ask: Why aren't you fishing now?  The fisherman replied, he's already caught his catch of the day so he doesn't need to fish anymore.  The businessman explained that if the fisherman went out and caught more fish, then he can make more money, and then even grow his business by hiring more people to increase revenue even more.  When the fisherman asked what the benefits would be, the businessman said he can increase his earning while working less and less.  The fisherman asked why would he want to do that?  So you can relax and rest and enjoy your life after earning a lot more money.  To that the fisherman said:  What do you think I'm doing right now?

[A] I can easily fall into this trap of working so hard to gain that rest.  But if I almost kill myself trying to get there, I'm missing the point all together like that businessman's idea.  The rest comes from God when I enjoy Him foremost and I just cannot forget this especially in my packed schedules of life these days.

[P] Dear God, I totally desire resting in You.  Please remind me again and again so I won't try to gain that rest on my own way with my own efforts.  Please grant me the rest while I put Your agenda foremost.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.