The waters of rest….

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Psalm 23 is my Psalm. I know it’s a common one – the one that everyone knows, but I have to fight off the urge to shout “hey that’s mine” when people read it. It’s the first passage of scripture I remember learning as a little girl – and in my journey over the last number of years it’s been the verses that God has opened up as I learn to lean in and rest beside the still waters where he leads me ever so faithfully.

Resting.

What does that even mean?

I’ve learnt that it doesn’t mean do nothing. It’s not complacency. It’s a quiet – at peace disposition – as we tune in and trust in a God who holds us together.  Heb 4 talks about the fight to enter Gods rest,  and I have experienced that fight, that element of me choosing and working to stay in that place. So it’s not about doing nothing.

This Psalm for me is more that just comforting words to quiet my beating heart that races with worries and concerns about life.  It’s words prompt and direct me to a person that changes everything.

I had an incredible moment a few years ago – again my nose in this Psalm soaking in its truth. Reminding myself that he leads me to good places.

My journey has been one of trust – like everyone’s I guess.  My eldest daughter was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when she was just 2 weeks old.  Needless to say – the questions, the prayers, the hope, the wait, frustration, the patience and trust have been and continue to be landmarks in this incredible journey we find ourselves on.

It’s where the words on a page of a bible are either just words or a way of life. It’s either something we read or something we live.  And in moments when things don’t work out the way we planned in our head – we have a choice. Do we really trust in the God of the bible?  Is he who he says he is?

For me – that’s where I find my rest.  That he is a good shepherd, he watches over me – he’s leading me to good places and I trust those words.

Psalm 22 – the Psalm before (obviously) gives me the reason why I can rest like Psalm 23 suggests.

I had a moment of realising that Psalm 22 is that Psalm that points us to the cross. It’s the   psalm that Jesus quotes when he was dying on the cross.  And whoever decided to place these Pslams together is a true genius.  Becasuse there is incredible truth knowing that it’s only because of Jesus, it’s only because of the cross that we even get to experience this rest that the word talks about.

I love it.

We get to live in Pslam 23 because of Psalm 22 so to speak.

Jesus declared himself at that moment of victory – it is finished. His work was completed and he sat down.

There is no more striving, working, trying to get. It is finished.

And that’s what we rest in.

As a great man in my church says – the work of Jesus was completely perfect and perfectly complete.

He didn’t leave anything out.

And that is the hope that I hold onto. I’m holding – that’s the effort part.

Choosing to believe His promises are true even when it doesn’t look or appear that way at times.

It is done. It is finished. Breathe. Trust. Rest.

Environment Creators

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My disclaimer is that this post has a similar theme to my last one.

This week we took our 2 year old to Castle Espie for a little morning fun.  This was also my first time there.

To quote “Get up close to Ireland’s largest collection of native and exotic water birds, bats and migrant birds whilst taking in sunning estuary views.”

There was something beautiful and amazing at seeing just how many birds actually inhabit what seems like a small part of the world.  I have been to many animal themed attractions – places where animals are somewhat confined to select parts of the park while people like me look at them.

The weird thing about my experience this week was noticing how none of the birds seem confined or locked in, in any way. They seemed free to come and go as they pleased.  There were no nets, no roofs and seemingly no boundaries. There was clearly something though about this “place” that just simply made birds (and lots of them) want to be there. The environment was right and the culture of that space made it somewhere they just wanted to be – because it offered them all the qualities they needed.

And this got me thinking about church, and the Kingdom.

Sometimes we can get so obsessed about “growing” our communities that “being” community takes a back seat.  There is something beautiful about the idea of simply creating the right culture that will seem incredibly attractive to a broken, hurting world. I am convinced that programs and events aren’t really what people are desiring.  Don’t get me wrong, we need events to create the initial contact point for people.  But people are longing for connection with people – real connection and real life.  And that is the most natural thing in the world – and we can’t ever force or program that.  When we do it seems forced and fake.

I’m challenged to just simply “be” the environment.  Not try to plan, program or come up with a strategy plan for people – just to be a human being doing real life and showing that real authentic love that flows from his kingdom.

This is back to this idea of “just be”.  We are responsible for creating the environments and culture around us.  We cultivate the Kingdom – and when we do that well, when we love like Jesus – we become the most attractive people on earth.

As we walked around this bird sanctuary, I joked with my husband, wondering if any of the birds were having meetings or convos about how to get more birds to know about this great place called Catle Espie. Did these birds have a plan?
And the answer was no, of course they didn’t. They where just happy doing life and no doubt naturally trying to find friends to tell them about this epic place they’d found.

We get the incredible privilege of carrying  Jesus.  We are hosts of his presence and operate in a kingdom the world can only see through us.

Let’s be people who live out of who we are and whose we are – it’s natural, healthy, and our communities will grow and flourish because of it.