Our Longing Hearts

**Please take one minute to sit, breathe deeply and seek quiet.**

“Come Thou long expected Jesus, born to set Thy people free. From our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee. Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the Earth Thou art. Dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart.” – Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

    Jesus is the joy of every longing heart. Our hearts long for freedom - freedom from fear, from sin, from struggling and from striving. Our hearts need rest and they find their rest in freedom that comes from Jesus. Whether we know it or not we all long for freedom and for those of us who know Jesus, he is our joy. Our longing hearts find their rest in Jesus. This leads us to gratefulness and praise.

    There is always another place we can find rest. There will always be opportunity for us to be released from fear and sin and find rest.

    May we continually find our rest and freedom in Jesus and may we experience the joy that it is to know him.

**Please take as much time as is possible to sit and reflect.**

Come and Rest

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    Jesus calls us to call and rest. In this discipline to stop and rest we find peace. As we cease from activity, productivity and constant body, mind and heart movement, peace comes in and we rest even deeply.
    Will you stop for a bit today? Will you rest and receive peace?

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Anxiety and Comfort

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.” Psalm 94:19

    This verse in the Bible stands out to me. It stood out to me on a day that I was not really anxious about much, at least on the surface. So, what struck me was the idea of God’s consolations, His comforts.

    I am not always one to receive help easily, I tough it out, can do it myself. Yet, when I allow God to comfort me I find great rest and my soul is lifted.

    How has God shown you His consolations? What happens when you receive them?

    Tuck this verse away, it can serve as great reminder of God’s goodness and care for you on those anxious days and nights.

**Sit quietly again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

A Prayer for Peace

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    If you are overwhelmed by conflict, turmoil and unknowns may this prayer encourage you today:

    “God give us peace. In our hearts, our minds, our souls and bodies, give us peace. Some of us are dominated by conflict, by turmoil and by never-ending questions. Calm our hearts. Give our minds rest. Give our bodies and souls peace as we rest in your salvation. Lord, give us peace today - peace that can only come from you. May this peace spread to those around us as well. Amen.”

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Rest Notes

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

     Talking with a friend, I was telling her of my time of rest and the things I was saying “no” to. God is calling me to rest right now. Her response to me was “even music has rest”. I loved the picture she gave me of music and how our lives are similar to a beautiful composition.

    I often think of crescendos, decrescendos, bridges, choruses, verses, different instruments as paralleling our life stories but forgot about the rest notes.

    How about you? Are you on a rest note? Is a rest note coming?

    How will you be attentive to God in His call to rest?

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Vision Thwarted

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    We have pictures, ideas, vision for how we would love things to turn out. Maybe you have had a goal in mind and something or someone stops you. Maybe you have a picture of how something should be but you cannot quite get there. Maybe you have to wait and the timing of your achievement has been thrown off. This is so frustrating and deflating! To have a vision thwarted can lead to discouragement, lost hope and even despair. Are you there today?

    If you are there, take a deep breath, allow yourself to vent, grieve, voice your disappointment.

    Talk to God, be real, share your frustration.

    Take hope in this: God’s vision is never thwarted. God completes that which He sets out to do. In the grand scheme of things, God has got things under control. You may not, but He does.

    My prayer is for you to rest in God’s love because ultimately this is what our frustration and disappointment may be all about – the struggle to rest in God’s love. Take a deep breath, be real and rest. He’s got you.

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Invitation to Rest

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading.**

    God’s invitation to rest is one I frequently decline. My RSVP is, “Thank you, but I cannot make it.” My reason can range from the desire for movement and productivity to bad timing. In our busy, workaholic, constant moving world the invitation to rest is one offered to us over and over again. Again and again we decline until one day …

    He forces us to rest. We become sick and we have no choice but to rest, we lose something we love and we wrestle to get it back. God forces us to rest and we fight it (which is no rest) or we ignore it and cause ourselves further pain and disconnect from God.

    The invitation to rest is a reminder of God’s grace and love for us. (It is also a reminder that we are human, but no one likes to admit that). If accepted, the rest is incredibly sweet, bringing nourishment to your heart, mind, body and soul.

    How has God inviting you to rest?
    What will your RSVP be?

**Sit again for as long as is available to you.**

The Gift of Rest

**Sit quietly, eyes closed in silence for one minute before reading.**

    My kids fight to take a nap and I do not get it. Why are they fighting rest? Do they not know how good they have it?? It is exactly what they need yet they do not know it.
    How about you? Do you fight rest? I am not talking sleep. I know that none of us fight sleep. I am talking rest from achieving, rest from performing, rest from productivity? The rest in which we fall back into the arms of a loving God and do nothing.
     We often fight the “nap” that God is offering us, throwing a fit while He KNOWS we need this gift of rest He offers us.
    I believe that God offers us rest. He offers us rest from performance; rest from achievement and from what we believe is productive. God gives us times, seasons and moments of rest and being a confessing over-achiever I fight Him.
    How about you? Do you fight the gift of rest? How is God calling you to rest in Him today?

**Sit again for as long as is available to you.**

The Joy of Every Longing Heart

**Please take one minute to sit, breathe deeply and seek quiet.**

“Come Thou long expected Jesus, born to set Thy people free. From our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee. Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the Earth Thou art. Dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart.” – Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

    Jesus is the joy of every longing heart. Our hearts long for freedom - freedom from fear, from sin, from struggling and from striving. Our hearts need rest and they find their rest in freedom that comes from Jesus. Whether we know it or not we all long for freedom and for those of us who know Jesus, he is our joy. Our longing hearts find their rest in Jesus. This leads us to gratefulness and praise.
    There is always another place we can find rest. There will always be opportunity for us to be released from fear and sin and find rest.
    May we continually find our rest and freedom in Jesus and may we experience the joy that it is to know him.

**Please take as much time as is possible to sit and reflect.**

Storing Up Peace

**Before you begin reading, sit down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1 minute.**

    To be at peace is incredibly restful. You can take a deep breath when you are at peace. You can inhale and exhale and your soul feels settled. Being at peace is also a gift as is joy. Storing up peace requires the receiving of peace as well as the cultivation of it. Cultivating peace does not necessarily mean the absence of conflict, difficulty and unknowns. True peace often comes in the midst of conflict, difficulty and unknowns. To cultivate peace we seek and trust God’s perspective, His direction and trust that He is near.
    To store up peace we must choose to forgive. Unforgiveness hinders peace and hinders your soul from being at rest. Unforgiveness is like a cancer, infecting everything it touches. Unforgiveness does not give room for peace.
    Is there someone you need to forgive? Maybe a friend, family member or co-worker? Maybe there is something you need to forgive yourself for?
    To begin cultivating and storing peace, begin with forgiveness. This is how God made His peace with us – forgiveness. Do not forget to ask for it as well.

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

Soul Rest

**Before you begin reading, sit down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1 minute.**

Soul rest. Where does your soul find rest? Does it find rest? What does that even look like? Sometimes I am moving so fast that I can feel the frenzy in my body, my mind and my soul. Sometimes I am overwhelmed by questions I cannot answer and a future I am unsure of. Sometimes I am avoiding God by not letting myself rest and letting my soul rest in Him. Soul rest requires release and it requires trust. How are you with soul rest? How can you release and rest in God?

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

Have more than two minutes? Read and consider the words in Psalm 62.

Choose to Rest

**Before you begin reading, sit down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1 minute.**

Rest. May you choose rest today. Sometimes you are forced to rest and other times it is a choice. It is funny because we think that we would always choose rest but often we choose to do yet another thing. Rest, choose to rest.

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**