Isaiah 30:15 “For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” Today's episode talks about how hard it is to return to anything once you have been away for awhile. It also talks about how many of us struggle to rest as well. It talks about the various reasons we might be scared to return to the Lord after we have been gone for awhile and speaks some truth into those reasons. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Are you struggling to return to the Lord?
Isaiah 30:15 “For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
This verse might be a hard one for us to hear. Many of us are doers. Rest is hard for us. We are good at doing things. We say yes to more and more things. We can always find the time to do one more thing. However, when it comes to finding the time to rest, we struggle. When we are resting we feel lazy. We feel like should be doing more. Our mind thinks about all the other things we should be doing. Resting is hard.
Returning is hard too. Returning to anything is difficult. Think about the last time you were on a roll with something and then had to take a break for some reason. Was it hard to get back into it? It’s strange to me because it is hard returning to something when you’ve been away from awhile, even when it’s something you really enjoy doing. For instance, my family used to get together every month. Then we got away from it for one reason or another. Now we want to get back into it and yet it is really difficult, even though it is something we really enjoy doing, even though it is something we want to do. Once you break a habit reforming it is a struggle.
This verse is talking about returning to the Lord. If returning to normal every day stuff is hard, imagine how hard it is to return to the Lord. Returning to the Lord is something many people want to do and yet struggle with. There are all sorts of things that can get in the way of returning to the Lord. Sometimes we don’t feel worthy enough. We know all we have done and figure God won’t forgive us. Sometimes we feel so lost we don’t even know where to begin. How does one return to the Lord after being gone so long? We may be picturing God as the disciplinarian and we are worried he is waiting at the door to punish up for staying away so long. There could be any number of reasons why it is difficult to return once we leave and yet this verse tells us we will be saved in the returning and resting.
The verse also says, “in quietness and in truth shall be your strength.” So, not only are we saved when we rest, but we have strength in the quietness. How many of us avoid the quiet? I know I am constantly doing things to fill the quiet. If I am making dinner, I will put a tv show on, I will listen to music, or I will listen to an audiobook. If I am riding in the car I will listen to music, an audiobook, or say the rosary with an app. My boys said they even listen to music while they are reading a book. We do all we can to avoid the silence and yet the Lord says in the quietness is our strength and when we rest we will be saved. How can we do this more?
First I will address the resting and the quietness. If we want to rest more there are a couple things that may help. First, write in into you calendar. Plan when you are going to rest. Are you going to rest for a certain amount of time every day? Are you going to rest for a few hours on the weekend? What is your plan? If you don’t have a plan, it probably won’t happen. Second, give yourself permission to rest. Accept that rest is an important thing to do. Resting doesn’t make you lazy, it makes you smart. If we don’t rest we will burn out and be no good to anyone. Rest is essential, our bodies need it and they will get it one way or another. If we avoid resting and keep doing all the things we will get sick and be forced to rest. Has that ever happened to you before? Have you ever kept going, even when you knew you should be resting and then something happened that forced you to rest? It has definitely happened to me and I have learned my lesson, mostly. Accepting that rest is important and can be so helpful because then you aren’t feeling bad when you are resting. You aren’t trying to talk yourself out of it and you aren’t saying unkind things to yourself while you are trying to rest. You are able to be more in the moment without thinking about all the other things you should be doing.
Next lets talk about the idea of returning to the Lord. If you have been away from the Lord, returning to the Lord can feel scary, but it doesn’t have too. Many of us look at God as this judgmental God who sits on His throne in the sky waiting for us to screw up so He can punish us. This couldn’t be further from the truth. God is like the father in the parable of the prodigal son. In this parable the son told his father he didn’t want to wait until the father died to get half of his father’s estate. He asked his father to give him his inheritance now and then he left. The son squandered away all of the money and ended up feeding pigs in someone else’s barn. He was starving one day while he was feeding the pigs and was thinking about how well his father treats his servants. He decided to go back and beg his father for a job as a servant. In Luke 15:20-24 it says, “So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.”
This is what our heavenly Father does when we return to Him. He is not waiting at the door with a punishment. He is running out to meet you, right where you are at. He is hugging you and throwing a party for you. I know it is easy to feel like we won’t be welcome, like we have done too much wrong, or we have been away too long. However, if you don’t believe me with just the parable of the prodigal son, let me share with you Luke 15:7. Luke 15:7 says, “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Did you get that? This is Jesus talking in Luke 15:7. He said there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. God is not looking for us to be perfect. God is not looking for us to never stray. God is looking for us to repent and turn back to Him. And when we do all of heaven rejoices.
I know you are struggling to come back to the faith. That’s ok, do it anyway. I know you are struggling to come back to God. That’s ok, do it anyway. I know you have questions and concerns. That’s ok, do it anyway. I know you worry you won’t be good enough or you will just mess up again. That’s ok, do it anyway. I know you think He won’t forgive you, but you just heard two examples where Jesus himself tells us that’s not true. That is a lie the enemy is telling you to keep you away, and it's working. The enemy knows if he can keep you thinking you need to wait until you are perfect to come home then you won’t ever come home to God because we will never be perfect. We are flawed humans living in a broken world. God knows this and yet He loves us anyway. God did not wait until we were perfect and sinless to send His son to die for us. Jesus died on the cross for us while we were still sinners. What God wants from us is our desire to be in union with Him. He wants our desire to be faithful. If you ask God for these things He will make them happen. All He is waiting for is for your yes.
What if you took that leap of faith today? What if you just said yes Lord, I am yours to do with as you please? What if you just said yes Lord, if you want me, I am yours. What if you just had an honest conversation with the Lord? What if you said, “Lord, I know I have been away for a bit, ok maybe a long time and although I am ready to come home I am also scared. I am scared because I have been away for so long. I am scared because I don’t know how to come home. I am scared because I don’t know where to start. I am scared because I am afraid of what coming home will mean for my current lifestyle. I am afraid of all of it Lord and yet I can’t get this yearning to come out of my mind. Help me Lord. I say yes to you. I give you permission to show me the next right step. I ask for you to come into my life and change whatever needs to be changed. I ask you for the courage to make those changes. I love you Lord and I want to come home.” Do you think you can do that today?
I am not sure who this episode is for today. If you are listening to this podcast you may not need to come home, you may already be at home with the Lord. If that is you, maybe you were supposed to hear this so you could pass it on to someone you know that is wanting to come home and doesn’t know where to start? If you are listening to this episode because someone forwarded it to you, know that person loves you with their whole heart and is happy to support you in your journey home. All you need to do is take the first step and say Yes to God, He will do the rest!
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we love you and we are so grateful you are so forgiving and loving. We are thankful you welcome us home with open arms every time we turn back to you. It makes me smile to think about you throwing a party to celebrate our return. You are such a gracious father. Lord, we ask you to touch the hearts and minds of all who hear this episode. We pray all those who are wanting to come home to you are able to do so. We pray they hear the words in this episode and realize they are welcome just as they are, they don’t have to change before coming home. We pray they realize you accept them for who they are and you meet them right where they are at. Lord, if they have questions, if they are confused, we ask you send the Holy Spirit to help them figure all that stuff out. Lord, we just pray this episode reaches those you intended it to reach. If that means we need to send it to someone we know that is struggling then give us the courage to do so. Lord you are so amazing. You are the one and only Ruler. You are the Lord God Almighty. None are like you. We are so grateful for you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I had not idea the podcast was going to go there today, but that is the beauty of letting the Holy Spirit lead. I know someone needed this message today, if it wasn’t you think about who you know that might need it. I look forward to spending time with you again on Monday. Remember, Jesus love you and so do I! Have a blessed weekend!