Sept 19 - Resting in God

For the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said:   
“You will be delivered by returning and resting;   
your strength will lie in quiet confidence. (Isaiah 30:15) 

We want to make space for rest as we look forward to Launch Sunday. Rest reminds us that our identity as God’s people is not based on our work, but on the finished work of Christ. Resting is not simply the absence of work, but actively trusting in God as the one we are dependent on in all things.  

As the Puritan writer John Owen once wrote, “We can have no power from Christ unless we live in a persuasion that we have none of our own.”  

A prayer for resting in God (adapted from Thomas à Kempis)  
Grant us, O most loving Lord,  
to rest in you above all else –    
     above all creatures,  
     above all health and beauty,   
     above all glory and honour,   
     above all power and dignity,   
     above all knowledge and cleverness,  
     above all riches and art,   
     above all fame and praise,   
     above all sweetness and comfort,   
     above all hope and promise,  
     above all gifts and favours that you can give,   
     above all happiness my mind can feel;   
     above all that is not you, O God. 

Anything you bestow on me   
or reveal to me or promise to me   
is too small and unsatisfying
if I do not see or meet you in it. 

For surely my heart cannot truly rest,   
or ever be fully contented,   
unless it rest in you. 

Amen