Experiencing God's Presence #345

Experiencing God's Presence #345

He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.

Psalm 23:2

“You need balance. Yes, there’s a time for pressing in to Me and My purposes for you. I love the hunger of your heart and how it drives you deeper into Me, and I don’t want your pursuit to wane. But you need to understand that pursuing is not striving. You can seek without being stressed, expect without being impatient, need without being unhealthily needy. The key lies in your focus. Are you intent on fulfillment or on self-fulfillment? Receiving or seizing? These are subtle but substantial differences.

“One of the ways I keep you in balance is to insist on rest and peace. You can find Me only when you cease striving and know that I am God—when, in your desperate search, you relax and receive. I’ve decreed that your salvation is in repentance and rest, not in climbing and achieving. That’s the only way you can get what you need. You have to learn how to wait and receive.

“That doesn’t mean being passive and inactive. Actively believe. Anticipate. Continue to focus your gaze on Me. But when your search for fulfillment becomes dependent on your own seeking and striving, you will miss it. I hold you and speak peace to you. I calm your heart and prepare you to receive. Not every path in My Kingdom is treacherous. I guide you into meadows and lead you beside streams. Learn to discipline yourself to actively rest, to intentionally accept, to zealously be at peace. Seek the balance I offer, and I will lead you gently and calmly where you need to go.”

Lord, help me know how to ask without being demanding, how to receive without grabbing, how to seek without being obstinate. Help me find You in Your strength, not mine. And teach me to live and work, even diligently and persistently, with a sense of peace and rest.