30 Dec Pillow (Resting on the Promises of God)

Many years ago, I took a team of approximately 40 people to Guatemala to minister.  While we were out in the villages ministering, I (along with another pastor) was invited to stay in a Guatemalan pastor’s home.  This pastor and his wife were so gracious but they lived very simply.  Their home was basically a wooden shack with a dirt floor.  They had put a long sheet down the middle of the very little home so that my pastor friend and I could sleep separately from the Guatemalan pastor and his wife.

They also had a pet rooster that lived inside the shack on their side of the sheet! This rooster also served as an “alarm clock” and every morning at approximately 5am the “demon possessed” rooster would crow at the top of its God-forsaken lungs.  Do you know how incredibly shrill this was at 5:00 in the morning!  Each morning I felt like Peter when he denied the Lord!

The first night I was there I was exhausted, and as I laid my head down on my sleeping bag something about six inches in length and about two to three inches wide crawled across my face!  To this day I have no idea what it was…I only know that it ruined my sleep for the rest of the night in anticipation of it coming back and crawling across my face once again!  Needless to say, I slept only but a few hours that eventful evening!

It is important to get a good night’s sleep!  However during this series we aren’t going to talk with you about physical rest, we are going to share with you about resting in the promises of God. 

Let me begin by sharing with you some biblical synonyms that in principle tell us to rest in the promises of God:

1. Fret not (see Psalm 37:1-9)

2. Fear not (see Mark 5:36)

3. Let not your heart be troubled (John 14:1)

4.Take no thought (see Matthew 6:31)

5. Be anxious for nothing (see Phil. 4:6-7)

Next week we’ll continue our series.