"I will give you rest"

Matthew 11:28 says "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest"
This is one of the verses in the Bible which really caught my attention. The Holy Spirit really spoke to me through the verse. I would like to share some of the revelations with my blog friends. I would like to divide the verse into 3 parts - "Come to me" "all who are weary and heavy-laden" and "I will give you rest". I just want to shar my thoughts on the 3rd part "I will give you rest"

What is "Rest"???

The dictionary defines "rest" as 'A state of quiet or repose' or 'freedom from everything which wearies or disturbs', ' peace'.....
It is a state of peace or freedom from a disturbing or weary situation.
I saw a sticker with the picture of a mother kangaroo with the baby in her pouch and the words "I will give you rest" written below. I also saw another sticker with a tree. One of the branches of the tree was drooping and would break off any moment. Just below that branch is a lake. On the branch....... a birds nest with 3 little ones..... The same verse "I will give you rest" was written below...... These stickers really spoke to me....
In the first case, the kangaroo is definetely in the midst of enemies and trouble. But the baby kangaroo in the pouch does not have to worry about anything. It is safe and at peace with his mom. That is the kind of rest Jesus wants to give us. He wants to be a source of peace amidst the trails and tribulations of this world.

Jehovah Jirah - my provider

Gods way of providing our needs is beyond our understanding. He uses unusual people, unusual circumstances and unusual ways to get his work done. We often make our prayer expecting God to answer our prayer in a particular way. Sometimes we are even shocked to see that things are not working in the way we expected. But ultimately we often do realise that God has answered our preyers but just in a different way.

I would like to explain this with an example said by a man of God in our church. It is the example of how God provides Elijah in I Kings 17. God asks Elijah to leave Israel after he spoke famine over the land of Samaria. We see in II Kings 17 : 4 God says "I have ordered the ravens to feed you". Wow!!!! What an unconventional way of providing food. Will anyone expect such a way of provision when he prays for food??? Similarly in II Kings 17:9 God says "I have commanded a widow to supply you with food". If we read further in that chapter we see in II Kings 17:12 that the widow had just a handful of flour and a little oil. She was planning to make a last meal for her and her son before commiting suicide. We see again that it is an unusual way of provision through a widow. The surprising part of the story is that widow dint have food for herself too. Will anyone in our least of dreams expect God to provide through a person who doesnt have anything????

God has His own ways and it is beyond our understanding. It is our duty to submit ourselves to His will and He will lead us and provide for us. Our God is a God who can make things out of nothing as He created the world. He created man out of dust. There is a saying that someone said

God makes things out of nothing........

As long as man becomes nothing before God.......

He can make something out of him.

Tornado

The term 'Tornado' must be new to many as it was for me until few months back. Recently we moved to nebraska which is supposed to be in the tornado belt.
A warning is usually given 10-15 minutes before the tornado attack. The first time i heard the siren go, i just peeped outside to take a look. The sight that i saw is unforgettable. Though the tornado was 8-10 miles away from our place, i could see the effect. The sky was totally dark(black) and i mean it 'totally'.
The actual tornado is like a tube of wind starting from the clouds and its other end reaching the ground. The wind is sure to affect everything in its surrounding.
During the recent tornado attact in our place, so many houses were destroyed. We had to rush to the basement storm shelter to be safe. Many trees fell on houses and people lost their houses. The roofs were blown away.
The day after the tornado, interview was taken of all the tornado affected people. One lady who had lost her house in the tornado was bold enough to praise God for saving her life. The guts of the lady really touched me. Is it possible for us to praise God in difficult times???? Praising God during happy times is easier. But what about times when everythings go wrong???
i want to encourage each one to praise God for everything...