Rest on Every Side

 Rest is a good thing. That is why we sleep every night and take naps on occasion. We need that rest for our physical health. However, we need another kind of rest for our mental and spiritual health. We need rest from stress, conflict, and all the extra hassles of life. We cannot engineer that to happen in our own power, but God gives us periods of rest, because of His grace. He knows just what to do and when to do it.

God gave Israel such a time when Solomon began his reign as king. It was a blessing so the temple could be built. (I Kings 5:4) God gave them rest on every side and a time when there was neither adversary or evil occurrences. It is hard for me to conceive of that happening in our world today. However, God could do that if and when He desires to do so.

There are husbands and wives who are at odds today, and they need rest from their fighting. There are parents and children who are angry with each other because of something that has happened, and they need rest to come from the Lord in the form of the power to forgive. There are people who are holding grudges who need to let go and love the other person with God's love. Those are ways God gives us peace on every hand.

Just think if God took away all of our adversaries. Think how great it would be for America to have no enemies trying to bring us down  Even more what if we had rest from all evil occurrences of any kind. That is what God did for Israel. He can do it again for you and for our country, but we have to pray, seek His face, and submit to His will for us as families and as a country. I pray that we will all pray for God to give us this kind of rest on every side.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read I Kings 6-8.