Thankful in Times of Drudgery – Part 5 of 5

After everything the Israelites had gone through with God, they still missed out. They were stuck with old mindsets and refused to be reprogrammed. That entire first generation never made it into the Promised Land, except for the two scouts that had come back with a good report. God rewarded the two faithful scouts for having the right attitude. Those that were complaining, however, only got more misery.

Sadly, that generation had toiled their whole lives long, but had nothing to show for all their hard work. The end of their lives was as sad as the beginning. Sure, God had given them a few victories along the way, but they died without enjoying their inheritance. The Israelites never completely entered into His rest because they misunderstood what it was about. They thought it was just another one of God’s rules so they missed connecting with His heart.

Fortunately, it’s never too late to have a change of mind. The fact that they didn’t believe they could make the total transition into Kingdom thinking doesn’t mean that you can’t. So, even though we are no longer living under the Law, the Sabbath day is still a valuable part of our faith. We need a day off in the week to refuel and to stay connected with Him. However, if you have little children, they don’t miraculously become self-sufficient one day of the week so that you can just rest. They remain a full-time job. But we can choose to slow down and let go of all the other tasks clamoring for our attention.

His desire is to see us living out of His rest every day. We can achieve this by living from a place of peace rather than from a frantic frenzy. We do this when we give our cares over to Him and trust Him in every situation of our lives. We don’t have to strive in our own strength any longer.

God’s plan was that entering His rest would be a lifestyle. As you nurture a vibrant relationship in Christ, and live out of His rest, you’ll have all you need to thrive.