A Place of Quiet Rest

Oh, boy... yesterday was quite a day. I woke up and felt the Lord prompt me to pull out a book I purchased quite some time ago but hadn't read. It's called A Place of Quiet Rest by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. While all I had been able to do for the past 12 weeks was "rest" (literally, I had NO energy and the little smidgen of energy I had was spent staving off constant waves of nausea), I have been struggling quite a bit to find rest for my soul lately, even with newfound 2nd trimester busts of energy.

The opening passage of the chapter cites Psalm 27:4 and my soul was instantly convicted. "One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all of the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple." Actually, my personal Psalm might have gone more like this... One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in my clean, tidy, organized home all the days of my life, to gaze upon my husband (ie, spend time with him), and to live a life of ease and physical rest. Hmmm... quite a disparity between the Psalmist and me.

The book goes on to describe a day in the life of Jesus from Mark 1. He woke up early (while it was dark... yikes!) and spend time with the Father. He preached in the temple, no doubt several hours of preaching. In the middle of his sermon, He cast an evil spirit out of a man. He then attempted to spend some time with his disciples at the home of Simon and Andrew and I'm guessing needed a bit of a break. It didn't happen. Simon's mother-in-law was ill and Jesus healed her. People began to line up at the door and, from the sound of it, Jesus healed people and cast out demons well into the night. Whew! It makes me exhausted just thinking about it!

So, how did He do it? Very early in the morning (v 35) Jesus went to spend time with the Father. It was there that His heart was prepared for all that the day had in store. It was there that Jesus found a place of quiet rest for his soul. That's the key.

Please pray for me that my soul would again learn to find that place of quiet rest. Especially with pregnancy fatigue still crouching at my door, I want to guard my time with the Lord, not out of obligation or duty, but out of desire and need. One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek...

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One last thing, could you please pray for David and I as we go for baby's ultrasound tomorrow afternoon? I'm feeling a little anxious about it, although a whole lot more excited than anxious! We're eager to see the face of our little one and catch a glimpse of his/her world. We're also really looking forward to see if God is forming baby boy Doty or baby girl Doty. Thanks for praying with us!