Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Super Size It


 My friend, Jessica Z., made this picture above.  I love it!  I had never seen this verse before this week and it spoke VOLUMES to me!
 
"This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel  says, 'In repentence and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust in your strenth, but you would have none of it.'" Isaiah 30:15

I am reading the book Stressed-Less Living by Tracie Miles with Proverbs 31 Ministries Online Bible Studies.  I am a Facebook small group leader for the study and I am being so blessed by this study!

This week when I read this verse, it hit me as to how many times we chose worry and reason over quietness and trust?   

I found it interesting that God says it is in quietness and trust that we find strength and yet according to the Lord (and it is true) people would rather worry and fret than stay in quiet trust. 

"but, you would have none of it".  Why is that? Why do we choose to worry rather than to rest?  

My hope is that after today, we will choose the rest, quiet and trust instead of refusing what the Lord is offering.  Why would we have none of the peace the Lord is offering?  Why turn down a good thing for something bad?  He is offering us a big juicy steak, fries, and chocolate cake (with no calories attached!) and we are settling for stale bread and bitter brussell sprouts. 

Let's see all the Lord is offering in Isaiah 30:15:

Another translation of Isaiah 30:15 says, "In returning and rest is your salvation."  The word "returning" is the Hebrew word "shuwbah" and it means "retirement or withdrawal".  Doesn't that sound nice?  
 Retirement.  *Sigh*  Awww..... The word "retirement" infers rest, relaxation, and peace.  Let's retire our worry!  

The word "salvation" in the Hebrew is "yasha" and you are going to LOVE what it means....VICTORIOUS!
Liberated!  Delivered!

So, when we retire our worry and rest, we are victorious, liberated and delivered!!!  

"In quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it."

"Quietness" is translated from the Hebrew word, "shaqat" and means "to be quiet, be tranquil, be at peace, rest, lie still, be inactive."  "Trust" means, well, "trust (and confidence)." 

Quiet.  When we are facing a difficult situation or circumstances, can we quiet our minds, be still and just trust?

Can we listen to the Lord when He says,  "Be still and KNOW I am God." (Ps 46:10)?  

Will we rest and find victory?  Will we be quiet, still, and trust?  It is in the quiet and trust we find strength.  

Or will we have none of it? 

As for me, I would like an extra super size large order of rest, quiet and trust with a huge helping of VICTORY on the side!  Give me some of that!   
  
Father, help us to be still and KNOW YOU are God.  We surrender our cares over to you, Lord.  We give them to You.  We choose to rest in You and find victory.  We choose to be still and trust You to be our strength.  We love you, In Jesus' Name, Amen. 








11 comments:

  1. Sue, thanks for breaking down the verse like this. It brings a new light to the meaning behind the words. Which results in a bigger impact. God Bless!

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  2. Love your post Sue! The same part hit me--hard. "but you would have none of it". Why do we do that? Thank you for sharing your heart sweet girl!!

    Love,
    Jennifer N
    OBS Exec/Teaching Team

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  3. Sue,
    I was really struck by the "you would have none of it" part of this verse, also. When I looked it up in some other translations, I came across this re-wording of the phrase--"you were unwilling".
    And, that's when I realized this really is about our will. Are we willing to be lead by Him, or not?
    Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this incredible verse.
    Sandi

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  4. Sue,

    I love your blog and the way you break things down for our understanding. I to, was also struck by the part " you would have none of it." How many times does God just wait for us to rest in Him, and we go on with worry and stress in our lives, dropping things at His feet and returning back to our same stressful ways!! God wants us to rest in Him and release our fear and anxiety. God wants us to " be willing" to do just that.

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  5. Love this Sue. "As for me, I would like an extra super size large order of rest, quiet and trust with a huge helping of VICTORY on the side! Give me some of that!" That's a beautiful statement and looking at all the times I have "had none of it". Thank you for those nuggets today. Debbie W. (OBS Group Leader)

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  6. This was a great interpretation of this week's verse. I'm glad I was challenged to blog hop; if not, I would have missed this! I am making yours a favorite and will be back to learn more from you!

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  7. Sue, thank you for the reminder. We are offered so much by God, but we try to take on what we don't have control over. Duh!!!! Why do we do that?! He must shake His head at us sometimes :)

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  8. Me too! A huge helping of victory!

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  9. Thanks everyone! So glad you stopped by today and so glad it helped you! Love, Sue

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  10. Loved your blog post!!

    "Awww..... The word "retirement" infers rest, relaxation, and peace. Let's retire our worry!

    The word "salvation" in the Hebrew is "yasha" and you are going to LOVE what it means....VICTORIOUS!
    Liberated! Delivered!"

    Thank you for this wonderful reminder!! God Bless You!

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  11. If there is one thing that I have learned lately, it is being still and letting God do what only He can do in my life. At times when I have been still and quiet, that's when God works in me.
    Psalm 131:1-2 (NIV): My heart is not proud, Lord,
    my eyes are not haughty;
    I do not concern myself with great matters
    or things too wonderful for me.
    2 But I have calmed and quieted myself,
    I am like a weaned child with its mother;
    like a weaned child I am content.

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