June 18, 2026 – Unforced Rhythms
Power – Matthew 11:29-30 THE MESSAGE – “I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly. Joyce offers this relieving way to think, “We need to get comfortable with saying, I don’t know the answer to this dilemma, and I’m not going to worry about anything because God is in control, and I trust Him. I’m going to rest in Him and live freely and lightly!’” Interestingly, I interrupted typing out the Bible verse in order to make notes in my “Introduction” that I’m working on in case I follow through with turning this blog into a book. I was starting to dictate something about the layout, but then realized that I don’t know what’s best. If this year of reading, listening, and writing almost every day has truly been inspired by God, then He knows how He wants it to look. So, I will just keep meeting Him here each day to the best of my ability and wait for His direction on what is next.
Days – “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down” (Neh. vi. 3). Simpson adds his thoughts about rest, “When work is pressing there are many little things that will come and seem to need attention. Then it is a very blessed thing to be quiet and still, and work on, and trust the little things with God. He answers such trust in a wonderful way. If the soul has no time to fret and worry and harbor care, it has learned the secret of faith in God. A desperate desire to get some difficulty right takes the eye off of God and His glory…. God sometimes has to teach such souls that there must be a willingness to be sick before they are so thoroughly yielded as to receive His fullest blessing.”
Remember this, “The enemy often keeps at this work. Sanballat came four times to Nehemiah and received always the same answer. It is best to stick to a good answer. How many fears we have stopped to fight which have proved to be nothing at last. Nehemiah recognized that fear was sin, and did not dare to yield to it.”
JA – “STILLNESS IS INCREASINGLY HARD to come by in this restless, agitated world. You must fight to carve out time for Me. Distractions come at you from all sides when you try to sit quietly with Me. But our intimate connection is worth fight for…. Focus on a favorite scripture, and breathe deeply to help yourself unwind…. Relax in My peaceful Presence, letting your concerns slip away…. There is transcendent stability in My Presence…. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” See John 16:33 and Psalm 46:1-2.
JC – “You are My beloved child…. Concentrate on keeping in step with Me, instead of trying to anticipate My plans for you. If you trust that My plans are to prosper you and not to harm you, you can relax and enjoy the present moment…. Sometimes I grant you glimpses of your glorious future, to encourage you and spur you on. But your main focus should be staying close to Me.”
Streams – Hebrews 12:12-13 KJV – “Lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.” Cowman invites Simpson again to add his thoughts to hers, “This verse is God’s word of encouragement to us to lift the hands of faith and to fortify the knees of prayer. All too often our faith becomes tired, weak, and listless, and our prayers lose their power and effectiveness. The Lord’s illustration here is quite compelling. He is pointing out to us that when we become so discouraged and fearful that even one little obstacle depresses and frightens us, we are tempted to walk around it…. The temptation is to find help from someone else or to walk around the obstacle in some other way…. It may require some sacrifice, or demand our obedience in some area…. God says, ‘Lift up the hands that hang down’…. Do not allow your feet to ‘be turned out of the way,’ but let your body ‘be healed,’ and your faith strengthened. Go straight ahead, leaving no Jericho unconquered behind you, and no place where Satan can boast of having overwhelmed you. This is a valuable lesson and is extremely practical.”
Prevail #169 – Isaiah 40:31 – “But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles.” Larson shares her experience with finding strength, “My health relapse lasted about three years. During that time, I instinctively rehearsed my symptoms – how I was feeling. But when you think too long about how you’re feeling, you’ll feel more of the same, and on a deeper level. I longed for God’s intervention. I prayed for it too. But in my weaker moments, I followed my feelings right into the ditch. One day as I stood at the base of our stairs, the Lord whispered to me, ‘Take those stairs! You’re not as weak as you feel! In Me, you’re stronger than you know.’ I sprinted up those stairs with so much strength, it surprised me! …The Lord challenged me that day to engage my faith at all times with everything in me. Waiting on God with hopeful expectancy is not meant to be a hit-and-miss proposition. It’s a way of life…. Actively wait on, hope in, and believe that the Lord is coming for you.”
New – Psalm 91:11-12 ESV – “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike you rfoot against a stone.” Slawson reminds us that, “Freedom is won for a nation when soldiers go to battle and fight for it. Freedom is preserved when they stay on duty and guard against attack. When a country or a city is well patrolled, those who live in it can work, play, and sleep in peace, knowing guards standing watch are protecting them day and night…. God has commanded His heavenly hosts, the angels, to guard His people. They are constantly vigilant, though we rarely think of them, doing the bidding of Almighty God. Throughout the scriptures, angels are sent to deliver messages, and often they begin with the words, ‘Do not fear.’”
Utmost – Matthew 14:29-30 – “And Peter…walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid.” Chambers add to the discussion of keeping our eyes on the Lord, “The wind was actually boisterous, the waves were actually high, but Peter did not see them at first. He did not reckon with them, he simply recognized his Lord, and stepped out in recognition of Him and walked on the water. Then he began to reckon with the actual things, and down he went instantly…. If you are recognising your Lord, you have no business with where He engineers your circumstances…. Let actual circumstances be what they may, keep recognising Jesus, maintain complete reliance on Him. If you debate for a second when God has spoken, it is all up…. Be reckless immediately, flight it all out on Him…. It is only by abandon that you recognise Him.” I have to say…I have stepped out in abandon on some things, directions and ideas, that I thought were from the Lord, only to have them go nowhere. How do I reconcile that and not question Him? I understand that He doesn’t mind it when we question Him. My main question then (again, because I’m sure I’ve asked this before) is how do we know that the whisper is His and not our own?
I hated to end on that kind of doubt today, but I’ve opened the floor to everyone so far. Well, except for Max Lucado. He has been quiet for a while; so, I thought I’d see if he has anything to add. And, as things go with God (when He whispers to us), he did.
Max – Isaiah 42:16 – “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known…; I will turn the darkness into light before them.” Max shares, “Denalyn and I moved to Brazil in 1983. We were called to plant a church, but we were naïve. Brazilians were kind but less than interested in the ministry of green gringos. Weeks. Months. One year. Two years. Slow growth in our church. A colleague felt convicted that we weren’t preaching the gospel. He urged us to meet with open Bibles and open hearts and identify the core of the good news. So we did. We read and reread Scripture. The big news of the Bible? That Jesus died for my sins and rose from the grave. Nothing more. Nothing less. We began to focus on the gospel message, and our little church began to grow. But it all began with long bouts of fear, frustration, and failure.”
Max asks, “Can you relate? If so, do not assume that Jesus is absent or oblivious to your struggle. Just the opposite. He is using it to reveal himself to you. He wants you to see him!”
JL – “My Savior-God, I rejoice that You have clothed me with garments of salvation…. Because You are my Savior forever, Your perfect righteousness can never be taken away from me. This means I don’t need to be afraid of facing my sins – or dealing with them…. I’m so thankful I don’t have to prove my worth by trying to be good enough. You lived a perfect life on my behalf because You know I could not do so…. In Your forgiving Name, Jesus, Amen.” See Isaiah 61:10, Matthew 1:21, 1 John 1:9, and Romans 8:1.
