The Release is found in Rest

The concept of living in the state of rest for the Christian may be the most challenging discipline of all.  Our natural man is a working man, a self sufficient man.  He rises to every challenge with a plan of action to bring a solution to every situation.  When you add the gift of leadership to the picture you have created a person for whom the demeanor of rest seems nigh impossible.  With a hunting dog like a retriever, when the bird falls every fiber of his being wants to run and do what his instincts and training have prepared him to do.  Yet, the hunter sees from a different vantage point, one which the retriever can't see.  The dog's very existence could be dependent upon his obedience when the gun is fired.  If he simply runs on instinct he could run into danger.  He must put his instinct and training under the command of the master who must give the command to retrieve.  He must sit and rest at his master's side even if it means the command to retrieve never comes.  It is an unnatural thing.  When the gun powder is in the air and the bird falls back to earth everyone agrees with the instinct of the dog to rush and retrieve.  The other hunters agree, the other dogs agree but the retriever has been trained to only move when his master has given the command.  While his sitting may be painful and though every muscle may quiver, he must sit in rest.  If the command doesn't come then he must learn to find his peace and fulfillment, not in the accolades of peers but in the approval of his master.  

There are puzzling examples in the Scripture that appears to be contradictory at first glance.  Jesus is asleep on the boat in the middle of a great storm and his disciples awake him and question his concern for their lives.  Jesus rebukes the storm and then the disciples for their lack of faith.  Then, in the garden the night before Jesus was arrested he finds his disciples sleeping and he rebukes them for resting!  What is the difference?  On the boat when Jesus was sleeping, he was asleep and at rest in faith and doing so in the will of God.  When the disciples were asleep they were doing so in disobedience to His Word and in a state of depression and anxiety.  The difference is found in the will and Word of God.  While there is a place of rest where we can learn to abide, we must remain alert even in our rest.  We must rest in faith and be ready to obey, not the crying out of our natural man, not the demands of men, but the voice of our Master.  There may be times when the order doesn't come and the crowds are stunned because Lazarus dies.  Yet, in the timing of the Lord he will rise.  The release is always found in rest.