The God Of All Comfort

I have a problem.  Actually I have many problems, but for today I want to focus just on this one:  Learning to rest and be content in where God has me.  This also includes waiting for God to open doors instead of just holding my nose and jumping into something – and then realizing I’m in waaaay over my head.

Let me try and explain a bit.  Through the years I’ve held many different types of jobs – and I basically loved them all – at least at the beginning.

I have worked in restaurants as waitress, bartender and even cook; I have worked in law firms doing secretarial and paralegal work; I have worked in sales jobs; and I’ve worked at a non-profit association.  And all those jobs I really enjoyed – for the first couple of years.

But then I find myself getting bored.  I get restless.  I need something new and exciting.

I even tend to get bored driving the same old roads to where I need to go!  After a time I just need to mix things up a little bit – veer off down different streets to get to my destination.

Yes, my husband definitely thinks I’m weird.  Actually I think I’m weird too.

I hear of people staying at the same job for 30 years and I start to cringe inside – how can they do that?

The only thing I’ve really enjoyed over the years without stopping is serving my Lord.  But, that being said, I still have a habit of jumping into new things I think I need to try as far as ministry; but sometimes after taking the plunge realize it’s not what I’m supposed to be doing.

Since this year started (2018), I’ve been feeling like the Lord’s telling me I need to learn how to “rest.”

Being able to take naps sounds like a good idea, but the kind of rest I believe He’s been speaking to me about is to quit striving!  I feel like He’s telling me that I need to focus more on “resting” with Him.  To remember that He’s got me firmly in His hands, and that He will indeed open doors for me when it’s time to start something new – instead of me trying to force them open with a crowbar!

I was reading through 2 Samuel not too long ago, and I once again found myself grieving at how King David fell from God’s grace when he had the affair with Bathsheba.

For some reason as his army went out for battle that particular time, he decided not to join his men like he usually did (Chapter 11), and that’s how the trouble appears to have started.  With Bathsheba he stooped very low – to the point of having her husband murdered once she informed David she was pregnant with his child.

Now when God sent the prophet Nathan to him to confront him of his sin in Chapter 12, David repents, but there was a price to pay.  There usually is.  In this instance, David and Bathsheba lose their first-born son.  Further, when you get to Chapter 13, you read of how David’s son Absalom kills his brother Amnon because of rape and incest.

David’s family is falling apart, and he just seems to not care.  How sad.  What had happened to David, the man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22)?

What had happened to this man of integrity?

Why didn’t he go into battle with his men (2 Samuel 11:1)?  Had he gotten bored?  Was he feeling discontentment with his life?  Just a thought…

There’s a saying that I’ve held onto through the years:  “When you start feeling distant from the Lord, it’s not Him who has moved away.”

For me, I believe a lot of my problem with discontentment and restlessness is that I start neglecting my time with God.  I start making excuses about “how I need to try this,” or “I need to get this done first” before I just sit and “rest” before Him.

Perhaps is that what was happening in David’s life as well?

Anyway, I’m looking forward to this season.  I really want to get this “rest” thing down.  After all, He’s in control of my life anyway!

How about you?