Read with me, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:4-5

The dictionary defines rest as, “cease work or movement in order to relax, sleep, or recover strength.”

Presence comes by practicing. Being present with Him requires an intentional tuning of mindfulness towards Him. You become aware by practicing to be aware. Resting equates to lingering where you are placed. When we feel far from Him, removed and cut off, often times we have merely allowed our thoughts to wander and our heart to become preoccupied by the busyness of life.

If you are struggling to rest, consider the possibility that your heart needs to be redirected to the One. Let your thoughts land on His goodness, and allow them to rest there. Redirect your vision, reset your focus, and realign your heart with His intentions. Rest your heart on the fact that He is for you. Cease the momentum of worry by taking every thought captive and lay it to rest at His feet.  Recover your strength as you allow yourself to just be with Him. Your longing will become satisfied by participation. Abiding yields fruit, because without abiding in Him we can do nothing. Abiding is an active state, an action, an intentional doing. Abide, rest, be.

If you place your phone on top of the table, your phone rests there. It is the same for us, where He places us is essentially where we have come to rest. Rest is staying where you’ve been placed. You have been placed in the hollow of His hands, kept safe and secure. We often worry ourselves into a fit, wondering if we are supposed to go here, do that, be this, say that other thing or not. Whether you do all or nothing of those remains useless if you are not positioned in His rest. Find yourself at His feet, and rest your heart on His gentle mercy. 

You can rest and work at the same time. To rest is to stay where He positions you, so rest where you’re positioned, still effective in every good work.  Don’t fret, jumping from one activity to another. When we rest we remain effective because we do what is in front of is to do exactly where we are, busy with what we were meant to do at that time in that spot. Just be, and rest.

Pray with me, “Father, I trust you with my heart. You are still my One thing. Please lead me in quiet trust, today. I yield my heart to you, I place my trust in you, I rest my mind on your goodness. Lead me beside quiet waters today, as I abide in the green pastures of Your unrelenting peace.”