Greetings my brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. I pray that all is well and the peace of our Lord is with you. If you have not heard this in a while I hope that you may receive this: You are loved with the genuine affection of Christ Jesus. And it is from this love that I am writing to you.
Brothers and sisters, I have had quite a week with struggles from car issues, home repairs, the tolls of maintaining relationships, demands from work and parenthood as well as the weight of my affliction and the difficulties it presents me at any given moment. Not to mention everything else that comes with the monotony of this life… to put it simply, I was exhausted, running on fumes. The weight of this exhaustion came to my head when I went to wake up my children from their naps one afternoon to be greeted by the smell of number 2 and my children proudly showing me the abstract paintings they had adorned the walls with. Between the smell and the weight of the reality of what was required to not only clean my children but their freshly painted rooms, I broke. I wanted so badly to just throw my hands up in the air and be done. At that moment, I felt like a little kid. I was so overwhelmed and overstimulated. I just wanted my mom to show up and handle it so I could just nap and dream of pleasant-smelling places like a candle shop, bakery, or a meadow of lilac and lavender flowers. But that was not an option. I had to push through and take care of the issue. Thanks be to God, my beautiful wife, my crown of favor from the Lord showed up. Soon after we cleaned up the kids. She took them downstairs and she gave me time to rest. As my head hit the pillow, I heard the gentle whisper of the Holy Spirit say, “Come to me you who are weary and heavy burden and I will give you rest”. Brothers and sisters, I did not have the strength to read the Word or pray, but the Lord provides a way weekly. I said, “Google play bible scriptures for sleep and soon I heard the sounds of the ocean crashing into the shore as a woman with a soothing voice began reading God's Word. Brothers and sisters, there are no words to express the love that washed over me as I laid on my bed and was still with the Lord.
Refreshed and renewed, I was ready for whatever came next, right? No, what came next as the next few days passed broke me again as the pain of my affliction returned with a vengeance in the early hours of the morning. I began to beg and pleaded, “not again Lord, please, I am not strong enough. Please take this cup from me,” as the pain continued to ravage my body. I started to weep bitterly as I lamented my grief, my anger, my pain, my fears, my anxiety, broken dreams and dashed hopes, my sacrifices and so on. I was laid bare. And when I had cast all my cares on Him because He cares for me I heard “Come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest” I struggled to make my way upstairs, got into a hot bath and again listened to the Word of our Lord. It did not take long before the pain started to fade, and my eyes became heavy as I sluggishly made my way to my pillow. I heard the Lord again, gently, as I drifted off
Psalm 127:2-4
2In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to those he loves.
3Children are a heritage from the Lord,
offspring a reward from him.
4Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are children born in one’s youth.
Matthew 11: 28
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Brothers and sisters, it is though God's love and mercy that I can write to you. For the rest that He blessed me with, by His abounding love, was the most restorative sleep I have had since I was a child. Believe it or not, I woke up ready to face the day with joy in my heart and a smile on my face. Brothers and sisters, why? Why do we go against the word of God, why do we forsake our time with Him? Why do we neglect the sabbath? It is written:
Exodus 16:23-30
He said to them, 23“This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’ ” 24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 25“Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. 26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? 29 Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
It is also written in Exodus 20:8-10
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.
It is also written in Exodus 23:12
Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.
Brothers and sisters. Let us trust in the Lord. Let us obey His commands, let us go to Him so that we may cast off our exhaustion, burdens, anxieties, hurts and fears. May we be His children and allow ourselves to just be held for I promise oh child of God, our father does not lie He is faithful so again.
It is written: Matthew 11:28-30
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
I pray this message finds you well, May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Blessings,
Pastor Dakota Swinton