"Learning To Rest"

"Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass." (Psalms 37:7) I was praying about this verse, wondering how it is that we take our eyes off Jesus when we grow impatient; especially when we see other people being blessed, if though they are do not care about the things of God. Having been a Christian for the last 32 years, I have had my share of finding it hard to rest in the Lord; when you have a company and a payroll, you tend to want the money in the bank when you are going to need it; not knowing if you are going to make payroll or not is something that can really try your patience. Resting in the Lord is something that you must learn to do; you don't just start out as a new believer with the ability to rest, and you surely don't have some gift of patience; something that is a virtue is worked towards and built up to, as if you were running a race requires training and endurance. Jesus, in describing the parable of the sower, said of the seed that fell upon good ground, that they are which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience (Luke 8:15); as if to say, that the word had actually taken root in their heart, thereby bringing forth fruit; fruit that is produced from a seed requires growing, as we grow in the Lord through trials and various tribulations. The test of the fruit is when an actual trial comes into our lives; do we freak out, or do we rest in the Lord? I would say that at least 75% of us freak out when we are going through a trial or tribulation; which makes the other 25% of us those that need to teach and instruct those that are freaking out. Paul had a little experience in the area of waiting on the Lord; having been stranded and on his own several times, he learned some things about waiting patiently for God to make things happen. He writes in Romans 15:4, saying, "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." The key to that verse is the word "learning", because it requires that we actually put into practice; and those that have experience are equip to help those that still lack the patience, just as we can gain knowledge by reading the accounts written, and taking them to heart. I remember when I first got saved, that I carried a little book around with me that had all these promises of God for every situation that we might be going through. I used it not only for myself, but for anyone that I ran across that was dealing with an issue. If they were suffering from discouragement, then I would give them verses about not being discouraged; or if they were suffering with hopelessness, then I would give them verses about having hope. The funny thing was, the more I shared these promises of God with others, the more I was building up my own endurance for the race... "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:1 & 2)