Streams of Mercy - Place of Quiet Rest
Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, He said to [the disciples], “Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (Mark 6:31).
Heavenly Father, in Your goodness, in Your shelter, we find rest and say like the psalmist, Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you (Psalm 116:7). The comfort of Your word reminds us that Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty (Psalm 91:1).
Creator God, rest has been a part of Your great design ever since the beginning: By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done (Genesis 2:2-3).
You made us Lord, and You know our need for rest—for rejuvenation of body, mind, soul, and spirt, and You made rest one of Your commandments to Your people (Exodus 20:8-11). Yet in our busy world with its incessant clamor and noisy demands, true rest is often hard for us to seek or find.
Our Lord Jesus, knowing our tendencies to stress and to strive, and knowing the pervasive weariness that quickly takes hold and weighs us down, issued the invitation, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest..." (Matthew 11:28). This was the invitation He issued to the disciples, when He saw them besieged by busyness, depleted by demands, consumed by commitment (Mark 6:30-31).
Oh Father You call us in the same way from the unabating busy-ness in which we live—swarmed by stressors, pulverized by pressure, overwhelmed by overload. You give us the same tender words of invitation, "Come with Me by yourself to a quiet place and get some rest" (Mark 6:31).
Help us, O Lord to prioritize the rest required for our survival and our thriving. You call us from a self-destructive path—from the fallacy of thinking that we have no time for rest. And You, the Almighty, the Supreme God over all, offer us green pastures, and a place of quiet rest beside Your streams of mercy. In Your very presence. Help us, Lord, to come gladly.
Jesus, I am resting, resting, In the joy of what Thou art; I am finding out the greatness Of Thy loving heart. Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee, And Thy beauty fills my soul, For by Thy transforming power, Thou hast made me whole.
Refrain: Jesus, I am resting, resting, In the joy of what Thou art; I am finding out the greatness Of Thy loving heart.
Oh, how great Thy loving kindness, Vaster, broader than the sea! Oh, how marvelous Thy goodness, Lavished all on me! Yes, I rest in Thee, Beloved, Know what wealth of grace is Thine, Know Thy certainty of promise, And have made it mine.
Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus, I behold Thee as Thou art, And Thy love, so pure, so changeless, Satisfies my heart; Satisfies its deepest longings, Meets, supplies its every need, Compasseth me round with blessings: Thine is love indeed!
Ever lift Thy face upon me As I work and wait for Thee; Resting ’neath Thy smile, Lord Jesus, Earth’s dark shadows flee. Brightness of my Father’s glory, Sunshine of my Father’s face, Keep me ever trusting, resting, Fill me with Thy grace.
~ Jean S. Pigott ~ 1876
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