Recently my wife and I went on a vacation. It was a whirlwind trip through Georgia and Tennessee; spending time with family and friends. The last leg of our vacation was spent in Tennessee at the home of my mother-in-law. It is a beautiful place in the foothills of the great Smokey Mountains.
Her home has a porch complete with rocking chairs where you can relax, reflect and well rock. One day I happened to have an hour or so alone on the porch staring across a green pasture and into an evergreen and hardwood hillside; a peaceful view. It was one of life’s simple pleasures.
This was a needed vacation (yes, I need another one). Overwhelmed with work and church and life and the list goes on; I was feeling weak and seemingly doing so much and not doing it well. The more I did the weaker I was feeling and as I reflected upon this an amazing song by Chris Lizotte entitled “Power in Weakness” came on. At the same time I was finishing the book Defiant Grace by Dane Ortlund and came upon a beautiful description and thought of just how fantastically good and overwhelmingly great Christ is.
He links the discussion to the book of John and states that in John’s Gospel we can clearly see the divinity of Christ, His greatness, but that we can also see the goodness; that Jesus is there for needy sinners like me. It is just an amazing union of “greatness and goodness, might and mercy, strength and salvation.”
Ortlund completes this description stating; “In Jesus Christ, believers have a Lord and a Savior. He is over us and He is next to us. Jesus is a King to represent God to us as well as a Priest to represent us to God.” Amen!
So as I sat there or better yet rocked there and contemplated this idea, as I thought about this as it relates to my weak attempts to do stuff, as I relate this all to my worries, job, economy, service, church another song by Chris Lizotte; “Peace in the Middle of a Storm” came on. As I rocked, as I observed the beauty of the hills and as I took in this view from the porch there was great peace and tremendous joy.
I know this was probably not some great theological moment, but it sure was a great spiritual moment. It brought to mind Matthew 11:28-29 and the words of our Lord and Savior:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Lord Jesus, as I find your power in my weakness; as I find rest for my soul in the middle of the storm, I say humbly and simply, thank you.
Grace and Peace!
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