Words of Wisdom for the Weekend: Rest

"Real Sabbath, the kind that empties and fills us, depends on . . . complete confidence and trust. And confidence and trust like that are rooted in a deep conviction that God is good and God is sovereign . . . There's no rest for those who don't believe that. If God works all things together for good for those who love him and are called to his purposes, you can relax. If he doesn't, start worrying. If God can take any mess, any mishap, any wastage, any wrecked, any anything, and choreograph beauty and meaning from it, then you can take a day off. If he can't, get busy."

" . . . I waver between . . . my experience of God's sovereignty and my need to take hold of it afresh. One minute I am declaring that I do rest in him, the next exhorting myself that I can . . . [Thankfulness] allows us to discover the rest of God . . . thanksgiving becomes a declaration of God's sovereign goodness. Even more, it trains us in a growing awareness of that sovereign goodness. You cannot practice thankfulness on a biblical scale without its altering the way you see. And the more you do it, the more you find cause for doing it. Inherent in a life of thanksgiving is an ongoing discovery of God's sufficiency, his generosity, his fatherly affection and warrior protection."

" . . . practice, mostly through thankfulness, the presence of God until you are utterly convinced of his goodness and sovereignty, until he's bigger and you find your rest in him alone."

~Mark Buchanan, 'The Rest of God'

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{Words for Wisdom for the Weekend: These are words that I have been challenged or encouraged by that I have read throughout my week that I kept pondering; words that I couldn't get off my mind and heart throughout my week. 

For other Words of Wisdom for the Weekend posts see here.}