A SECURE PLACE OF REST AND PEACE

“I am humbled and quieted in Your presence. Like a contented child who rests on its mother’s lap, I’m Your resting child and my soul is content in You” (Psalm 131:2 TPT). This imagery suggests a peaceful state. I believe a child can rest like this and be at peace because he/she knows the mother’s love, and therefore, the child trusts the mother. With Jesus, it is the same; in His presence, there is rest because we know His love, and therefore, we trust Him. And in that resting and peaceful place, we experience His strength; “…in quietness and in confidence will be my strength (Isaiah 30:15).

The Lord has everlasting comfort for His children (2 Thessalonians 2:16). In this place of being still and knowing He is God (Psalm 46:10), we find strength. Our strength is renewed in this resting place (Isaiah 40:31). We may come to Him weak, but He increases our strength (Isaiah 40:29). This is a place of self-surrender that accepts His blessing (Isaiah 55:1); it is an act of cooperation on our part as we partner with Him. God welcomes us to come and experience priceless spiritual benefits, which are provided without any effort on our part. He encourages us to delight in the blessing of this spiritual joy (Isaiah 55:2), to come to Him with the abandon of a child, trusting His love, attentive to His voice, with the result of being revived (Isaiah 55:3). This is a tender spot of a Father longing to love and comfort His children, to provide peace through the restoration of relationship. We come to know that we are His highly favored ones (Ephesians 1:5). Here, we are anxious for nothing. As His children, we come before Him with all of our cares. With deep affection, the Lord carefully watches over us (1 Peter 5:7; Philippians 4:6). He extends love to us, guarding our hearts and minds with His peace (Philippians 4:7). And that peace reigns in our lives as we remain fixed on Him, the One Who loves us (Isaiah 26:3). Regardless of life’s circumstances, as we remain in His presence, trusting Him, there we find provision and constant comfort and strength. He is the God of our hope, and we remain content in Him (2 Thessalonians 3:16; 2 Thessalonians 2:16,17).

In this quiet and resting place of knowing the Lord, knowing His love, we experience peace. Here we know His abundance. Here we have strength that is not our own. Here we are confident, relying on Him for everything! Here we believe in His love, care, provision, and protection; we trust in His ability, knowing He is the Mighty One. Here we experience the power of rest. Our ability comes from God. From rest and peace, we fight battles and stand firm. We experience the strength found in rest and peace as we believe in Him. This is the secure place of a child of God.

We are secure in this place knowing He hears us when we pray. We present all things to Him, praising and resting because when know that He has heard and answered (1 John 5:14). We are secure in rest, confident that He is mighty and able to keep His Word and do exactly what He has said (Romans 4:21). A supernatural peace is experienced even without seeing any outcome in the natural; we stand in faith as we have a confidence in knowing Him.

In this secure place, we know healing and forgiveness, wisdom and boldness, and experience freedom from worry, fear, and anxiety. This is a restful place of confidence in our Father. This is called peace. In a human understanding of peace, everything must be exactly right. But God’s peace is a supernatural rest that is not altered or affected by circumstances. Great is His peace, because Jesus is the Prince of Peace. The Prince of Peace came for hurting people. When He left this earth, He gave His peace to remain with us through the Holy Spirit, our Comforter. It is His desire that we should know the abundance of His peace (Jeremiah 33:6). Because we abide with Jesus, we have peace at all times regardless of the circumstance (2 Thessalonians 3:16).  Peace is not just a feeling; peace is a person. Peace is God’s supernatural response of love, a comforting balm that soothes the weariest and most stressed individual.