Finding Rest

The Bible verse; Hebrews 4:3a – For we who have believed enter that rest…

Recently I was at a conference for counselors through the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation. The speakers were incredible and very helpful. There were, special times of worship and in my times alone with God in my hotel room or in the mall God was speaking to me. On the last day of that conference which was scheduled to end at 11:30AM I began to stress out as I was trying to listen to the last speaker. The reason for that stress was that there were approximately 1000 people there, and I needed to be outside to get on a first come, first serve shuttle to the airport to catch my flight. I was distracted by the thought that I would have to get up to the 23rd floor to get my stuff, the elevator would be crowded and I was panicking. Well when the teaching ended I got to the elevator and was able to get on right away. However, when I got to my room I discovered that I had been locked out and had to go back down to the first floor, get the key reprogramed and go back up and get my things. I ended up waiting for the shuttle, got on, and made it to the airport in plenty of time to catch my flight. I got on the plane as scheduled and then it started. We were waiting and waiting and then the pilot came on and said that we were being held up by a group that needed to get on this plane and were running late because of their connecting flight. After about 45 minutes we began to taxi down the runway. We got to the turning point where you then begin takeoff and the pilot came on and at first said that we were waiting on some paperwork problems and as soon as we got clearance we would take off. Another half hour went by and then the pilot said, “We need to return to the gate so that they can tend to a mechanical issue.” Well after several times waiting and being told of further delays, we were finally told that we would have to get off the plane and go to another gate and board a different plane. That took another hour or so and we finally took off for Buffalo. By the time I got home it was over 3 ½ hours later then I was supposed to get there.

Now the point of all this is that I was in a situation in which I was stressing out because in reality I was trying to figure out how to solve a situation that was not in my ability to resolve I was dependent upon the airlines and others to come up with the solution. Instead of trusting I was panicking. God places us in situations where we are totally depending on him and yet instead of resting in the knowledge that he has everything in control, we try to figure it all out. I challenge you to simply find rest.

©2025 David W. Drake, President, Renewed Hope, Inc.