by Mike Elwood

For more than 40 days now, we’ve journeyed together, growing our faith and learning to know the Lord in different ways. Way to go! Our spiritual stamina is increasing. We’re talking with one another about spiritual things. And we anticipate the climactic days of fasting and prayer coming up in a week. But how will we follow up this extraordinary adventure? What next-step choices will we make to take advantage of the momentum and continue the journey?

Three truth-packed passages come to mind as I think about this question. The first is Hosea 6:1-3. The second is Philippians 3:7-15a. The third is Matthew 11:28-30. Let’s simply ask the Lord to minister to our hearts as we meditate on His truth.

Hosea 6:1-3
Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.

After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.

Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.

Philippians 3:7-15a
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

All of us who are mature should take such a view of things.

Matthew 11:28-30
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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

A paradox emerges as we try to juxtapose these verses. Human effort and divine restoration marry here. On one hand, we’re to press on; on the other, to simply come. We find a God who “tears us to pieces,” who injures us, yet returns to bind us up and heal us! The "plum tuckered out" put on a yoke to find rest! We count our assets as rubbish! What kind of God is this? These counter-intuitive steps are all designed to bring us to a God who is indeed unfathomable, untamed, and beyond our comprehension, yet who invites our company. Will we continue to come to Him?

Week 7: Reflections

1. What would it look like for us to live and serve out of lives characterized by rest and restoration?
2. Perhaps we find ourselves humbled, overwhelmed, frustrated, or possibly embarrassed at the tenacious single-mindedness of Paul (Phil. 3:7-15a). Why? Is his example out of the "main stream," or is it the normal Christian experience the Lord intends for you and me?
3. Jesus speaks of Himself as "gentle and humble of heart." What have you learned these days about who our God is?
4. The prophet assures us that "we may live in his presence." How does that truth impact our relationships? Our priorities? Our entertainments? Are you comfortable today with the idea that you live every minute in His presence?
5. "I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me" (Phil. 3:12). Ask the Lord why he chose to take hold of you personally.
6. "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:14). What is this goal? What is the big prize at the end? What specific steps are you going to take in the coming weeks to pursue that prize?
7. Evaluate with the Lord how you are "pressing on toward the goal."

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