For most people, the word vacation refers to an opportunity to rest. That is certainly the idea that comes to my mind as well. However, I enjoy balancing that out with visiting the sights and documenting that with pictures … lots and lots of pictures to be exact. In fact, anyone who knows me typically sees me behind the camera because I love capturing the moment … Each. And. Every. One. Of. Them.

There were the pics that I thought would be great for a post. Not to mention the pics of the beautiful sights I didn’t want to forget.  Or the memorable pics of my family just being fun and sweet.

So imagine my surprise when I felt the prompt from the Lord to rest in His presence applying to this hobby of mine. I want to say that I obeyed instantaneously but as trivial as this may sound, I was struggling. I found myself saying, “But Lord, this would be a great pic.” When I resisted, I was met with another prompt. And then, I decided to obey.

I found myself in unchartered territory: whether sitting on the balcony or in the ocean, I was just watching the water, gazing at the sky, and listening to the waves WITHOUT taking any pictures. And after doing this day after day, I did not even flinch when there were storm clouds brewing with drizzling rain!

Psalm 131:2 in The Passion Translation describes me best as I remained in this posture of not moving or making a sound: “I am humbled and quieted in Your presence. Like a contented child who rests on its mother’s lap, I’m Your resting child and my soul is content in You.”

That was quite a shocker for me as I tend to worry when seeing dark clouds. But I recognized that obeying the prompt from God to rest in Him and doing so consistently had prepared me for that moment. So instead of becoming filled with fear, I remained in my spot and trusted that the storm clouds would pass quickly which they did.

When reading the Gospels, we see how Jesus ministered mightily. But He also was intentional to withdraw from the crowds to be in the presence of His Father. As a result, we read in Matthew 8:23-27 how He was able to sleep in a boat during “a furious storm”. Jesus had faith that He and the disciples would not drown and He was not afraid.

Dear Friend, there is a powerful outcome when removing yourself from something that seems important to you to rest in God’s presence. As hard as it may be at first, to fully rest in Him and do so regularly prepares you to be calm and unwavering in your faith during the storms of life. Ultimately, you find yourself trusting that you will not be overcome by them because you are resting in the Lord. What could be better than that?
~Joyce

*This pic was taken by my daughter who was completely fascinated by me just sitting in the beautiful water without a camera on hand.