(Matthew 10:29-31) God is preparing us for rest. God knows that fear will present itself even if He has told us that this is the year of rest. Are we going to let fear in? The devil will go above and beyond to bring us out of the rest and for this reason, we must purpose to focus on the promises of God. We need to make the effort to stay in God’s rest.

Jesus will never tell us to do something that He will never enable us to do. When He sees us going off, He will take hold of our right hand with His powerful right hand and lead us back to the right way (Isaiah 41:10,13). When gymnasts swing back and forth on the trapeze, their aim is to let go of one end as they grab onto the other end. Whatever you are holding onto at this moment of time, don’t be afraid to let go and grab onto His promises that are able to give you rest. Just as the gymnast, it takes focus and single-mindedness to let go of what you are holding and focus on God.

Sometimes we want to rest from that thing that is causing us unrest, but at the same time, we are holding onto it.

God knows it is not in our nature to rest, that’s why He reminds us continuously not to be afraid. Before this year ends, rest will become second nature to us because as God’s children, we are called to live from a place of rest not from a place of works and fear. Rest seems scary because we are relinquishing full control to God: is it your marriage, your kids, your finances, etc? It seems scary because rest feels like we have lost control – a lie that the devil wants us to believe. When we rest, we don’t lose control, we are instead handing over control to God.

God won’t force you to rest. He is waiting for you to hand over control. Are we partially holding on while at the same time handing over to God? This makes us stretched out, exhausted and drained. When we are afraid, we trust God (Psalm 56:3). God wants us to be aware of the spirit of fear so that we don’t walk in deception and be kept from enjoying His rest.

What to do when fear attempts to take you out of God’s rest:

1. Seek God FIRST, don’t wait!
   Seek God in prayer. What we do when we are afraid determines whether or not we will enter God’s rest (Psalm 34:4). Instead of overreacting/strategising, we need to push ourselves into God’s presence to be covered with His love, to receive answers to our prayers and freedom from all fear. God may not give you the answer that you want, but the answer that you need (1 John 4:18)
2. Just believe / Radical faith (Luke 8:50) in TOTALITY regardless of your situation. It may look like Jesus is late or delayed or attending to needs of others, but He is always on time. It doesn’t have to make sense, but it makes rest (Exodus 14:13-14). No situation is permanent. Make a decision that just because Jesus said [quote appropriate Scripture with regards to your situation]. No ‘ifs’, ‘ands’ or ‘buts’
3. Remember. Remembrance is a gift that God gave us to meditate on His Word, on what He had done for us in the past and access the things God has put in us; not on bad situations. It takes you to believe 1 threat of the enemy to forget all that God has done (1 Kings 19:3-4). Make a deliberate decision to count your blessings and name them one by one. Our memory is not to bring up trash and faults of yourselves and others, but to bring up testimonies of the Lord in your life (Psalm 27:3). When you remember what God has done, it gives us the confidence to believe God’s promise for now, and there will be no more room for fear (Psalm 103:2). Forgetting invites fear in, and rest becomes inaccessible.

Surgery cannot be done unless you are asleep. Sleep/rest in Him so that He can do what He want to do. As long as you are ‘awake’ and holding on, He cannot do the ‘surgery’ or do what He needs to do. May the Lord empower you to hand total control over to Him and do what He knows to do best. Every spirit of fear is cut off from you in Jesus name and God’s peace that surpasses all understanding will fill your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ!