What Is Our Rest Connected to? (part 3)
* our rest is connected to our humility
One of the best definitions for humility that I have heard is: “being known for who you are and for who you are not.”
There is no masquerading as someone you are not. For example, if you can sing, don’t pretend you can’t. God gave you that gift. Walk in it with grace knowing Who gave it to you. I can honestly tell you that I do not have that gift. If I hit a note, it was a happy accident. It doesn’t stop me from singing, I just don’t go on American Idol pretending I can.
So, if we are honest with who we are and who we are not, we should be able to realize our limitations and know we need someone else to come alongside to help us at times. We need humility to admit that we need help. Why? Well it can be hard to ask for help and that may go against how we were raised or the way we pride ourselves that we can handle anything and we don’t need anyone.
Humility is needed to ask for help, so we can find rest.
We can find rest because we are not exhausted by doing it all ourselves. We can find rest because we are not pretending we have it all together. We can find rest when we finally let go and kneel before God and tell Him we need Him to save us and heal us and love us and make us like Him.
We cannot do it alone.
Ask yourself these two questions and honestly, humbly before God answer them:
Do you have a hard time admitting you need help, even with God?
Do you have a hard time being vulnerable?
We need to guard against feeling like we should be beyond asking for help in a certain area or at work or raising kids or whatever…
As a Jesus-Follower, ego should have no place at the table. Jesus continually modeled going to God for what He needed and He gathered the disciples around Him to walk through those three years with Him.
“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
Galatians 6:2
When we allow someone to be there for us in any way, we are being obedient to Galatians 6 and we are not struggling on our own. The is a peace and rest knowing we are not alone.
Another way we can help each other find rest is encouraging and supporting each other:
“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence,
I will know that you stand firm in one spirit,
striving together as one for the faith of the gospel.”
Philippians 1:27
It’s not the striving we were talking about earlier in part 1 of this series. Some versions have the word “striving” as “contend”. This striving means to fight together against a common foe, wrestle. This is active, aggressive even.
Paul is telling us that we are to stand together and fight for each other, so we can all reach maturity in our walk with God.
Besides being completely honest with God, we need someone in our lives we open up to. That takes vulnerability. That means we need to be honest with who we are and who we are not. We are not supposed to tell everyone, everything BUT there needs to be someone in our lives who knows where the bodies are buried.
We are meant to go through life together. We need community. We are stronger together.
There are many ways to connect with someone and it may take a bit of courage to reach out. We can find rest when we are honest with who we are, where we are at and allow someone in to walk with us and help carry the load.
Another question to add to your quiet time with God is:
Do you feel you have someone standing and fighting with you? If not, what can you do this week to make a connection?
In closing, my hope is that you will allow humility to open up your heart and reach out to the God who loves you very much and knows how you are made. He provided all you need to be in a relationship with Him and longs to talk to you everyday. Ask for what you need, whether it’s wisdom, grace, hope, a friend…
Then reach out to connect with someone. It can be scary, but I know you can do it!
Have an amazing day!
All My Love ~
Jodi xoxo
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