Resting Place

Monday, June 19

Resting place
By: Pastor Amie Donovan

Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. -Exodus 17:15
 
Exodus 17 talks about Israel in the desert, stopping at a place called Rephidim, translated as "resting place." 
Nothing about Rephidim was restful. It was here they quarreled with Moses over their physical thirst. Here, a war waged against them. Here, Moses's arms needed to be held up to not be defeated. 
It's here where Moses cries out to God "What do you want me to do with what's around me? The needs, the people, the testing of my God?" 
Yet, it was here (in the desert—in the resting place that is anything but) we read in verse 15, "The Lord is my banner."
 
In the Desert, Israel experiences great thirst. 
In the Desert, Moses strikes a rock, and all are satisfied. Jesus is the rock of our salvation!
In the Desert, a war is waged against them; it is here we see our battle belongs to the Lord. 
In the Desert, where our physical strength isn't enough to carry us, it is here God gives grace that is sufficient in community.
A banner proclaims whom we belong to, and whom our allegiance is to—it proclaims who we are. 
Just because you're in a resting place that feels more like a war zone doesn't mean the enemy is at play. Sometimes it is more the Lord is at work.
Our rest isn't found in what we can understand or how we can define it. It is found in knowing every step of the way God is with us. I rest in who I know, not what I can understand.