Rest Assured

Many years ago I was apart of a very early morning Bible study. In that season in my life as a stay-at-home mom to a toddler, it was the only time of day that worked for my schedule without having to line up a sitter each week. One particular morning, my alarm went off and as my eyes struggled to open I immediately felt the desire to pull the covers back over my head and pretend the rest of the world didn’t exist. It wasn’t just because I could have used about 900 more hours of sleep (did I mention I had a toddler?), it was mostly because of what was happening in my world at that time.

I managed to get myself out of bed and into whatever clothes had landed on the floor the night before, grabbed some coffee and drove across town in the dark as my brain tried to convince my body that it really was morning and not the middle of the night.

About halfway through our study time, we would always take a potty break. That was about the time that the guzzling of coffee was taking effect. As I made my way through the dark lobby of our church to the women’s restroom, all I could think about was that the sadness was trying to consume me. You see, at that time, it seemed like there was bad news every which way I turned. My father-in-law had just been diagnosed with cancer. The son of our dear friends had just been diagnosed with leukemia. We were in the process of trying to adopt and were hitting brick walls at every step. And I was weary.

I stepped into the stall and as I reached my hand out to grab a toilet seat cover I was stopped in my tracks. There, on the metal toilet seat cover holder were two words; ‘Rest Assured‘.

Now, I’ve been in that restroom at least a hundred times prior to that day but I had never noticed the name of the toilet seat cover company before. Let’s face it, it’s not the kind of thing one is usually paying attention to. But, on that morning, those words felt like the sweetest of gifts. Yes, my initial reaction was to chuckle a bit at the name, but the emotion immediately following was one of utter amazement.

Because on that day, in that moment, there could not have been two more perfect words for me to see.

I just knew that in the midst of the questions and the heartache and the sadness, God was speaking to me. It didn’t matter how He did it. It just mattered that He did it.

And, I believe that there are those of you who need to hear those same words today. You need to be told that you can rest assured.

You can rest assured that God cherishes you.

“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you with his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

You can rest assured that God is for you. 

“God is for YOU! If he had a calendar, your birthday would be circled. If there’s a tree in heaven, he’s carved your name in the bark.” ~ Max Lucado

You can rest assured that God has chosen you. 

“Just as chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love he predestined us to adoption as sons (and daughters!) through Jesus Christ to Himself.” Ephesians 1:4-5

You can rest assured that God has a plan for you. 

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back from the place from which I sent you into exile.” Jeremiah 29:11-14

When you put together the meanings for the word ‘rest’ and the word ‘assured’ you can define it this way: to rest assured means to relax with confidence.

What would happen if you were able to relax with confidence in the Lord even in the midst of the trials. If I’m honest, I have a hard time relaxing even when things are great let alone when I’m struggling!

Over the years I’ve often come across a quote that has God saying to us something to the effect of,

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this!” ~ God

But for some reason that always seems a bit dismissive to me. I think the more accurate statement would be,

“Rest assured that I’m with you IN this.” ~ God

Friends, resting assured in God’s love for us doesn’t mean that the pain or the fears or the doubts just magically disappear. It means that when those feelings arise, we can bring them to Him confidently knowing that we can lean into Him. That we can relax into His love. It means knowing that we are cherished and chosen. That He is for us and has a plan for us.

On that morning as I stood there in the bathroom stall, I had no doubt that those words were meant just for me. That my Heavenly Father cared for me so much that He would speak to me through any means.

Even if He had to use toilet seat covers.