Relish Returning and Rest

“They are a rebellious people,
    lying children,
children unwilling to hear
    the instruction of the Lord;
who say to the seers, ‘Do not see,’
    and to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy to us what is right;
speak to us smooth things,
    prophesy illusions,
leave the way, turn aside from the path,
    let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.’
Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,
‘Because you despise this word…
therefore this iniquity shall be to you
    like a breach in a high wall,..
    smashed so ruthlessly
that among its fragments not a shard is found…
    to dip up water out of the cistern.’

“For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
‘In returning and rest you shall be saved;
    in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.’
But you were unwilling…

“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,
    and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
    blessed are all those who wait for him.

“For a people shall dwell in Zion; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry...  And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction,..  your eyes shall see your Teacher.  And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left… 

“And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous…  And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water,.. Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold,.. in the day when the Lord binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow…

“You shall have a song.., and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the Lord.” Isaiah 30:9-15,18-21,23,25-26,29

The way of the frenzied heart meanders far and wide, distant from the narrow path, down into self-sufficiency, idolatry, and rebellion. The more we run the more wayward we go, to our detriment and spiritual barrenness. But merciful God issues the call, Return, rest, be still. It is here before God we get re-centered, refueled, redirected. The blessed result of returning is fruitfulness, fullness of Spirit and peace. (Exodus 14:14; Isaiah 32:17-18; Hosea 14:1-2a; Matthew 7:13-14)

Where am I tending rebellion, self-sufficiency, or urgency? What causes me to close my ears to my Teacher and resist His word? Am I willing for the Lord to break my unwillingness? I can take one pause of restless driving, one step toward the holy mountain, to return. God in His grace welcomes, pardons, refreshes. He replaces craving with quietness, and our every cry becomes joyful song.

O God of my salvation, restore me again. Remove the rebel-bent and revive a whole heart and Spirit-filled mind that I might rejoice in You, increase in fruitfulness, and honor You all my days. (Psalm 85:4,6,12)