Repentance that Leads to Rest.

Isaiah 30:15-This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.

Rest is a byproduct of peace, which is rooted in trust, that is born of faith and hope (which are both gifts), implanted in us by the Lord via the Holy Spirit. Trust is the antithesis of control. Control, and our absolute flesh plagued allegiance to it, is what robs us of rest, by removing the peace, through replacing trust, with a palatable lie. The lie is simply this; the rest that my soul was made for is something I can make happen, rather than something that I am powerless to manifest or sustain.

Oh but the lie tastes so sweet. You do have the power. You can have the control. It’s right at your fingertips. Just take the apple. God’s the one who’s lying.

We can all attest to being in this place. Having once again moved out of a gospel posture that we are invited through humility to assume always, and as a result have gotten busy trying to redeem our own lives and their circumstances. So how then do we reenter the rest our hearts so crave?

Satan is so committed to our being far from a gospel-centered rest that he would convince us through accusation that countless days of self-flagellating confession and penance (which is masked self-righteousness) will possibly suffice, if God is in a benevolent mood, but theirs no guarantee. His attempts and their focus are to try and twist even our repentance into some sort of control rooted in pride (I have the power to feel bad enough to deserve forgiveness and restoration.)

We only reenter the rest through true repentance. Psalm 51:17 -The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

A broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart. It is only when we are truly broken, that the soil of our hearts is fertile enough to receive from Him the rest that is only He can manifest and sustain. He increases our faith, strengthens our hope, births trust that allows us to let go of the “apparent” control we are trying to assume and allows us to experience His nearness in our pain which leads to peace (Ephesians 2:14 For he himself is our peace). This peace in turn leads to our much longed for rest.

Such brokenness is at the heart of repentance that leads to rest. (2 Corinthians 7:10 -Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret). It is important here that we recognize that it is only “Godly sorrow” that leads us to this place; sorrow that is not self-generated from personal analysis, but a reaction to being led by the Holy Spirit himself to a more full understanding of our sin. (John 8:7-8-Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt). And it is only in such a state of brokenness that we find the comforting words of the Psalmist to have such significant meaning and that we find rest in the peace afforded through His “nearness”.

Psalm 34:18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.