Calming Yourself in Christ’s Love
Calming Yourself in Christ’s Love
“In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33b)
Troubles and storms, heartaches and thorns: these are part of life in our broken world. Yet Jesus calls us learn how to rest in His love. He has calmed storms! He has healed aches! He has come to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found. He has overcome the world as Easter weekend proves. Still, we need to learn how to rest in His love.
At the end of last Sunday’s message, I shared three spiritual practices for calming yourself in Christ’s love that I have found especially helpful. This blog is a chance to go a little deeper into those practices and reflect on them further.
Before I begin, I want to acknowledge that this is a big topic. There are many other Bible passages that can help us learn to rest in Christ. But here are three that I have personally found useful in recent years.
Practice One: Direct Your Soul to Return to Its Rest
“Return to your rest, my soul, for the LORD has been good to you. For you, LORD, have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the LORD in the land of the living.” (Psalm 116:7-9)
The weaned child of Psalm 131 has learned to view Mom not merely as a Need Meeter. He now views Mom as a TREASURE, a place of contented REST. Saint Augustine began his famous book “The Confessions” by saying, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
When troubles come, we need to direct our soul to return to its true resting place. God has rescued every Christian from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of Light (Colossians 1:12-13). No trouble can unhitch us from His loving rule.
As the song In Christ Alone confesses:
“No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand,
For I am His, and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.”
Remember this as you face your next trouble. Don’t turn to other resting places which might give superficial calm for a moment but then leave you feeling more restless. Turn to Christ! He is the Rock of Ages! As Isaiah 26:3 says, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”
Practice Two: Be Still and Know….He is your ever-present help in trouble
“Be still and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10)
“God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1)
Psalm 46 is a loud Psalm. Mountains quake and fall, waters roar, nations shout, the earth melts. Yet the psalmist confidently asserts, “We will not fear” for God is with us and He is an ever-present help in time of trouble.
Still, sometimes our hearts are caught up on the noise and turmoil. God is fully capable of supplying us with peace but we must dwell upon Him. God himself directs us, “Be still, and know that I am God.”
Be still and know only God, not be still and know 7 social media sites, a movie on television and your Alexa playing your favorite song. It’s “Be still and know that I am God.”
A simple way to practice is through breath prayer:
- Breathe in and say: “O God, you are my ever-present help”
- Breathe out and say: “in time of trouble.”
Repeat as needed, especially before any hard conversation or stormy crisis.
Practice Three: Delight Yourself In God
In the Bible, joy and peace often go hand in hand. Paul writes in Philippians:
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7)
When we purposefully rejoice in the Lord’s greatness and goodness, He brings a calm to our hearts. David urges us:
“Take delight in the LORD,
And he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)
And here is another promise from that same Psalm:
“The LORD makes firm the steps
Of the one who delights in Him;
Though he may stumble, he will not fall,
For the LORD upholds him with his hand.” (Psalm 37:23-24)
Our soul become fortified as we delight in God’s character. Qualities like His goodness, His mercy, his justice, His patience, His grace and His love. Furthermore, we can also rest upon God’s promises that He will be all those wonderful qualities towards us!
“The LORD God is a sun and shield:
The LORD bestows favor and honor;
No good thing does He withhold
From those whose walk is blameless.” (Psalm 84:11)
When I was a young child, my Mom often played Maranatha praise music in our home before bedtime. I found the song All Through the Day especially calming. The advice of the first verse remains solid advice for every Christian. Here are the lyrics:
All through the day, all through the night,
Dwell in His promises, walk in His light,
Darkness shall flee at His command,
All through the day and night we’re in His hand.
In Closing
Storms and trials will come, but Christ has overcome the world. As we return our souls to Him, quiet ourselves in His presence, and delight in who He is, we can truly rest in His love.
This is what it means to live as those who are Dearly Loved.
Rob Byker
Senior Pastor
