By Cyndi

When I was a child, we did just about everything as a family. Whether it was yard work, washing cars, going to the beach, or whatever, we did it as a family. My father, being a civil engineer, had to take trips out of town sometimes to inspect projects. Most of the time, I would say ninety-eight percent, he would take all of us with him and turn it into a mini-vacation as much as possible. I think I have seen just about every part of Florida because of this, and there is always something in me ready for a “road trip”. Fond memories were made and I have tons of stories that will last me a lifetime.

Does your family spend time together doing things? We find it to be a challenge to make time for each other and our son being so busy with ministry. Our jobs and responsibilities are always crying out for more, and it is a real struggle sometimes to not feel that our worth and value comes from those things but of the Lord. We fall into the trap of measuring our success in what we do, rather than resting in knowing God loves us whether we work twenty hours a week or seventy. What has brought freedom to us is believing that Father God accepts us and receives us for who we are, not what we do.

I encourage you to do something special with your family this week.  Make some memories.  Work as unto the Lord in your profession, then relax and enjoy your family.

By Cyndi

There are times when I find myself out of rest. Do you know that feeling? It is like when you are nervous, or just easily perturbed by things. This happens to me mostly when I am in traffic or waiting in line at the bank or grocery store. But the Lord has been showing me something recently-that rest is found in meekness. He explains it this way: that rest is a fruit or a product of meekness. Matt.11: 28, 29- “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Jesus is our example for meekness. But what exactly is meekness, just some term only used in the Bible?

The dictionary defines meekness as “humbly patient, docile, overly submissive or compliant, gentle, kind”.  I usually think of the latter two words, gentle and kind, when I think of meekness, but I found the other definitions quite interesting. Think about this verse, Jesus tells us to take His “yoke”, another word not used much these days. This tool was used for younger or weaker oxen; they would be “yoked” or put in a stock with an older, stronger ox and they would work together. Obviously the weaker would be submissive to the stronger, more experienced one as he would carry the bulk of the load. So to paraphrase Jesus here, He is saying, “Take my yoke, submit yourself to Me and I will teach you, because I am submitted to My Father; learn from Me, I know how to rest.” We can be at rest by submitting to Him and learning from Him Who already is at rest.

So in order to be meek, we must be submissive-interesting. I think of Moses, who the Word says was the meekest man on earth. He was able to lead an entire nation into freedom, fasted for forty days and nights, receives the Ten Commandments, and much, much more because he could submit to God. All those years in the desert he was learning to be submissive, to be yoked together with the Lord. Jack Frost would say it this way: “Submission is being subject to another’s mission“.  Are we subject to someone else’s mission, or are we all about our own mission, our own agenda? Of course, God’s mission should come first, but what about our pastor’s, our leader’s, our employer’s, even our husband’s or wife’s? In order to be meek, we must be submissive.

As I have been dwelling on this revelation for a few days, I have found myself caught in traffic numerous times driving home as there has been a lot of construction work being done on Mayport Road. So as I sit in traffic in the 90 degree plus heat of Florida, I think about submission. “Oh, yes, Lord,” I’m thinking, “I’m subject to my pastor; I’m subject to my husband; I’m subject to what my job requires”, on and on, but then He gently speaks to me (because He’s meek), “Cyndi, it’s the attitude of heart, not just the outward submission I’m looking for. Look at yourself right now in traffic, how is your attitude about things?” Oh, boy.  I was not “submitting” to my situation very well, especially when the car in front of me let about five cars in from the other lane, making me have to wait a third time on the turning light! So this is what meekness is all about! And this is why I was not “resting” while I sat in traffic. Wow! I see the connection so well now! As I seek out ways to humble myself, submitting myself to situations and other people in my life, I grow in meekness which results in me living in a greater rest in everything. I don’t have to be concerned about all the things going on around me; I can stay at rest in Father’s love knowing that, as I am submitted to Him, He’s in control of all things. We are yoked together. My rest is found in meekness.