rest

This morning we are in our caravan on a very quiet site in Somerset, with a little river running by a meadow.

Unusually, the English summer weather has been very dry and hot, so the surrounding pastures are a brownish yellow – not green at all.

Early this morning grey, low cloud covers the landscape; although it is still warm.

Even the land feels stressed right now. Certainly there is great anxiety and stress in the world. The news is unremittingly gloomy and depressing and there are wars and rumours of wars all the time. Truth, goodness and righteousness are in very short supply.

Many people are looking for rest. Primarily, I believe, rest for their souls. Only God can supply that.

So, as I, Kate, reflected this morning, a poem emerged. It’s a bit rough and ready but it is really a prayer. Here it is.

Rest 

In a world on high alert, the news so full of stress
We need a place of resting; a place of knowing less
A place of restoration, where souls and bodies heal 
A time for really letting go of all the things we feel

Surrender isn’t easy, when going through the mill
The psalmist spoke of pastures green and waters that are still 
But there we need a laying down, releasing anxious thoughts
A time for giving up the fight of all the “shoulds” and “oughts”

We need a time with Jesus, sweet Shepherd of our soul 
To pour out our anxieties, so He can make us whole 
Stretch out Your Hand, Lord Jesus, and touch our deepest need
We want to be with You alone and follow where You lead

Come, precious Holy Spirit; refresh our inmost parts
Please overwhelm our thinking and calm our racing hearts 
Indwell our fleshly beings; transform us and renew
And clear our mental focus, till we see only You 

So, Lord, these verses are a prayer; appealing for Your rest
Please minister Your love to us; we’re asking to be blessed
Today, beloved Jesus, stretch out Your healing hand 
And by Your precious Spirit, bring rest into our land

“Our hearts are restless, until they rest in You”. St Augustine of Hippo

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.”
Psalms 23:1-3 NIVUK

PS. Roger and I now have another blogsite, too. It’s called Hope and Glory. See www.kingdomheritageproductions.com

Streams

We are blessed to have a home which backs on to a small river – in fact two small rivers; one called the River Clun and the other, the Unk!

We are also blessed that we are situated significantly higher than both those streams of water, with a very large flood plain beyond them to mop up the overflows that happen after prolonged rain, usually in the winter.

This is the River Unk at the bottom of our river bank.

Psalm 1

When we bought our home, some 14 years ago, we had to follow the leading of the Spirit to make sure it was the new place that the Lord wanted to plant us in. I distinctly remember a number of ‘words’ given and fleeces laid down to confirm that this was His place for us! One of those confirmations was Psalm 1, which the Lord brought to our attention through a song based on that psalm, written by Ian White. Here’s a link:

Jesus in the Psalms

Actually, if you’re listening to and watching the You Tube video of Psalm 1 by Ian White, you will get links to more tracks on his album. I love his Psalm settings.

I was further blessed this morning with another video on Psalm 1 which popped up as I was looking at YouVersion – The Bible App. This is by a ministry called Spoken Gospel:

Resting in Jesus – the Stream of Life

I was so excited by the conclusions drawn in that second video. Draw His living water into the root systems of your life. We can all be planted by the water of Life if we focus on deepening our relationship with Jesus.

Not striving, though – ‘rest humbly in Jesus and you will live! ‘

Aye, Aye Captain!

The first rule of learning to sail is to obey the Captain’s orders, or at least to try to hear what is being said and taught and do it. As I start my third day of writing this blog I’m trying to find a daily rhythm that will enable me to hear His voice more clearly.

In the last season I’ve been a bit stressed, trying to figure out what I’m meant to be doing. Covid has brought so much change into our culture.

At the beginning of the year I knew that I had drifted away from a habit of just sitting down with Jesus and resting in His love. I tried to just “be still and know” that He is God, but I was overthinking all the time. Just sitting down and having a rest time with Him was really difficult. Should I be reading the Word, praying for people and discerning what to do about so many pressing issues?

I actually wrote a poem at the end of last year called “Relationship Renewed”….but I quickly flitted off again from just resting with Jesus and got distracted. If you want to listen to that poem- here’s a SoundCloud link….
https://soundcloud.com/kate-stanway

Resting at anchor

Yesterday I was truly blessed. I think it started on Sunday by reading Colossians 2 with other people – in such a way that really meant we had to gently hear what was being said there.

Then, yesterday, I was reading a Daily Devotional that I should have finished at Christmas (awful words- should have!) and I really liked what the author was saying about finding rest in busyness. I wish I had read it at Christmas! One of the verses of scripture that she included was:

“In returning (to Me)and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confident trust is your strength.”
Isaiah 30:15 AMP

I realised that returning is actually repenting, but it’s not hair shirt stuff! It’s turning back to the good way of being with Him. To rest, listen, gain confidence and find new strength.

P.S.

I have a very dear friend in California. She read this blog yesterday and gave me so much encouragement, as she always does. How we treasure our good friends! So thank you, dear Angela. And the Cheese Scones (!) are baked at 200 Celsius… for our American friends, I guess that’s around 400F. Hot oven!