I was doing some last minute editing this past week and was reminded of something that happened in my past that perfectly symbolizes the survival strategy the Lord has laid out for His bride in these troubled times. It took place during a time when I owned and operated an outdoor survival school, teaching adults and kids basic outdoor survival skills. It was in one of those classes that something took place, unknown to me, that would have a profound impact on me and on this book.
There was a sweet family—mom, dad and six kids—that attended one of our three day sessions. I was most taken with their youngest boy. He must have been four years old or so and he became my shadow for the entire course. He never said anything; he just hung close by my side and would participate now and again. At the end of the class he spoke for the first time and said “good bye.” I thought that was the end of it until several months later when I got a call from his mother.
She told me that they had been at Sea World on a crowded summer afternoon when all of a sudden their youngest—my shadow—was missing. They looked everywhere but couldn’t find him. They closed the gates and the security personnel scoured the entire park looking for him. She said that after an eternity one of the guards came up and said they had found him but that she would have to come and get him because he refused to leave where he was. She asked me if I remembered the story about the tree.
It was a special story that I told all the young kids about how rescuers track people. The high point of the story is that if you get lost the worst thing you can do is to go wandering around because it makes their job of finding you all the more difficult. So I told them that the secret was to find a tree that wasn’t going to move and hug it until they found you. I smiled as she told me the rest of the story. The security guard led them over to the edge of the park in a shady area and there was her son with his little arms tightly wrapped around a tree. A simple story heard with open ears and acted on in faith.
We have the secret to our survival—entering into His Rest—and we have something solid and immovable to hang onto. He has given us His Holy Spirit, not only as a pledge that He is coming back for us but as helper and advocate, leading us to spiritual maturity. He knows exactly what we need to become the pure, virgin bride God created and destined us to be.
There is so much in every detail the Holy Spirit gave me out of the four books He had me base Wake Up And Rest on—Song of Solomon, Hebrews, Revelation and Ephesians— that it was impossible to cover it all in this book. As a result I just focused on the key message He revealed to me throughout my journey. However, we will make more detail available on our website, WalkWithGod.org. Those study guides go into much more detail in unwrapping Jesus’ message to His bride in each of these four wonderful books, verse-by-verse.
Remember, we have an incredible promise from God. Each of us has been ordained—determined beforehand by God—to be conformed to the image of His Son. (Rom8:29) So, as you travel along your journey discovering Jesus rest, let me encourage you to hang onto the Holy Spirit tightly and listen for His voice. He will reveal God’s perfect plan for accomplishing that in your life; how you see yourself, how you see Jesus and what you need to do to draw closer to Him and stay there.
If we fail to answer His knock, draw near to Him and enter into His Rest we do so at our own peril. As you proceed along your journey I hope that you will, as I have, come to realize that the peril we face wears many faces and it’s not only here and now, it reaches into eternity. We have been given a time to impact His kingdom both now and forever and we can’t afford to waste any of it.
Yes, these times are perilous but they are also precious for His bride. As we move up and take our position alongside Him on the front line we need to remember that it’s only in His Rest that we will find the power, the fulfillment and the peace we need to carry us on to His Glory.