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https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2023/10/24/searching-after-gods-rest?utm_campaign=Daily%20Devotions&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-89bpqH2d4DGUBWnxqua10UXZ81EZbOQB4aLWpeCdGWLYetrxUSgnjr-dPEx5VOb7tOYYAj3KzqUSbnO4W5eexvOWvF7Q&_hsmi=276109044&utm_content=276109044&utm_source=hs_email#disqus_thread

Searching After God’s Rest
October 24, 2023
by Mary Folkerts, COMPEL Training Member

"... Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness.  Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’” Hebrews 3:7-8, 10-11 (ESV)

I’ve been a “yes, but ....” girl all my life. In fact, it’s an ongoing struggle.  Yes, I’ll follow Jesus, but .... .  Yes, I love Jesus, but .... .  Do you know who else also seemed to have a “yes, but ....” attitude?

The Israelites in the Exodus account.  During their escape from Egypt to the promised land, God provided precise direction in the form of a cloud by day and fire by night. He provided water from rocks and bread from heaven. After all the miracles the Israelites witnessed, how could they still show such unbelief and discontent? They must have displayed an extraordinary level of obstinance to turn an 11-day journey (Deuteronomy 1:2) into 40 years of wandering (Numbers 14:34)!  We shake our heads at them, feeling smug in our self-righteousness. We think we would have had more trust had we been in their sandals, but truth be told, we still struggle to follow where God leads today.  As the author of Hebrews used the Israelites’ wilderness story to caution his readers, it remains a warning for us today. Hardening one’s heart to the voice of God means missing out on His rest.  “…Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness.  Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest’” (Hebrews 3:7-8, 10-11).

The Israelites’ unbelief that God would do what He promised kept them from entering God’s rest (Deuteronomy 1:32). Sin is deceitful; it will cause us to doubt God’s voice and look to ourselves for direction. Faith feels too difficult — trust feels too hard. We have waited too long for God, so we make our own path. We live in the “yes, but …” and our wandering begins.

How do we find our way back to the rest God desires to give us? Hebrews 3 lays the groundwork:

*  Fix our thoughts on Jesus (Hebrews 3:1). When we’re preoccupied with our circumstances, our eyes wander from our Savior to our struggle. Immersing ourselves in God’s Word refocuses us on the One who wants to carry our burdens and direct our path (Matthew 11:28-29; Proverbs 3:5-6).

*  Don’t harden our hearts to the voice of God (Hebrews 3:7-8). The more time we spend with Jesus, the more we will recognize His voice. Calluses form on a heart that continually turns from His voice, so let’s keep our hearts soft to His gentle whisper.

*  Exhort one another (Hebrews 3:13). Staying connected in Christian community is vital for spiritual health. Fellowship allows us to know and be known, to encourage and correct, to receive and give godly wisdom, using God’s Word as our road map (2 Timothy 3:16).

Do you trust God’s promises?

Take hold of the truth that God's direction does not hinder your joy but leads you to true rest. It all begins and ends with faith, changing “yes, but ....” to “yes, Lord.”

Yes, Lord, I will follow You.

Our last birthday bod of July is Richie C!

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Resting in God’s Goodness When Your Story Shifts
October 17, 2023
by Sarah Frazer

“... I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’” Exodus 33:19a (ESV)

“This wasn’t part of the plan.”

I sat on the bed in the hotel room in the middle of China and whispered those words. As my husband and I held our newly adopted daughter, we realized that her physical needs were much more severe than we had originally thought.  The first day I held her, I cried. I didn’t understand what God was doing. I didn’t feel prepared to be a mother who had a child with special needs. Suddenly, my story had shifted. There were so many questions and no answers. Would she go to school?

Who would take care of her after I was gone?

Could I really do this?

I was not equipped!  I’m the type of person who wants solid answers because I want to prepare and make plans. Through our daughter’s adoption, God was starting to teach me that certainty cannot be found in my plans or in the ability to predict the future. God has shifted my story many times since that day in March with our daughter. He is still teaching me because when this happens, I’m often still quick to question God’s goodness.  Your life has probably shifted over the years, too, and maybe you just want to know what to expect. I’m sorry I can’t tell you what your future looks like. But I can tell you who holds your future.  Our daughter has thrived these past eight years, but some aspects of her future are still unknown. Will she live on her own?

What kind of care will she need three years from now, or 10, or 20? Those questions remain unanswered, but God’s goodness has never left her or the rest of our family, and I know He never will.  God is so incredibly good. In the Bible, the story of Moses has shown me how God’s goodness isn’t necessarily tied to my plans but to His glory. Before heading toward the promised land with the Israelites, Moses said to God, “Please show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18, ESV). God’s response was, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD’” (Exodus 33:19a).

God’s glory is tied to His goodness, and God’s goodness is tied to His name, which reveals His character. Moses had met this Lord at the burning bush (Exodus 3:15), and even through plagues and wilderness wandering, God continued to be good to Moses and His people Israel, just like God has been and will continue to be good to you and me.    God might lead us on a path we didn’t plan for, but God’s goodness never leaves us. Moses didn’t need a detailed plan before heading to the promised land; he needed to be reminded of God’s goodness. The thing about this goodness is that it passed before Moses. All Moses had to do was rest in it, and so do we. Our life won’t come with a map, but it comes with a promise: If we follow God, His goodness will follow us all of the days of our lives (Psalm 23:6).

I'm so sorry I missed your birthday yesterday, sample4444, but I hope you had a good day?

Happy birthday for today veganrockchick!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13647355/Covid-worse-lack-pandemic-preparation-scathing-inquiry-concludes.html

Covid Inquiry: State failings led to mass death and suffering, damning report concludes Health Secretaries Hancock and Hunt did not prepare UK for 'catastrophic' pandemic that killed more than 230,000 Britons

    READ MORE: Scientists pinpoint reason women are more at risk of long Covid

By Ryan Hooper For The Daily Mail

Published: 12:13, 18 July 2024 | Updated: 13:10, 18 July 2024

The UK Government's failure to prepare for a pandemic led to mass death, 'untold misery' and 'economic turmoil', the Covid-19 Inquiry has concluded.  Baroness Heather Hallett, delivering her first scathing report into the outbreak that killed more than 230,000, called for 'radical reform' in order to safeguard against future pandemics and warned: 'It is not a question of "if" on will strike but "when".'

In the 217-page document, it is reported that the UK prepared for the 'wrong type' of pandemic an influenza-style virus, instead of those caused by other respiratory diseases, like Covid, which require a different approach.  She also urged for the issue to be treated 'in much the same way as we treat a threat from a hostile state'.

The UK had 'significant flaws' going into the pandemic in early 2020, which resulted in schools, offices and shops closed, vast constraints on freedoms through lockdown measures, and untold damage to mental health.  And there were more than 235,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK up to the end of 2023.  She acknowledged preparing for a pandemic costs money, but warned: 'The massive financial, economic and human cost of the Covid 19 pandemic is proof that, in the area of preparedness and resilience, money spent on systems for our protection is vital and will be vastly outweighed by the cost of not doing so.  Had the UK been better prepared for and more resilient to the pandemic, some of that financial and human cost may have been avoided.'

She said high pre-existing levels of heart disease, diabetes, respiratory illness and obesity, and general levels of ill-health and health inequalities mean that the UK was more vulnerable.  But, addressing the state's preparedness, she added: 'There must be radical reform. Never again can a disease be allowed to lead to so many deaths and so much suffering.'

She said planning and guidance was 'insufficiently robust and flexible', that policy documentation was 'outdated, unnecessarily bureaucratic and infected by jargon', and that advice was 'often undermined by groupthink'.  She also acknowledged the Government's preparedness and resilience was, 'quite evidently under constant strain' at the time the pandemic struck, given several Whitehall departments' preoccupation with leaving the European Union.  The 240-page report said: 'The evidence suggests that there were, and remain, real limits on the state's capacity to cope with an increasing trend of multiple, complex civil emergencies happening at the same time.'

Baroness Hallett added: 'I have no hesitation in concluding that the processes, planning and policy of the civil contingency structures across the UK failed the citizens of all four nations.  There were serious errors on the part of the state, and serious flaws in our civil emergency systems. This cannot be allowed to happen again.  Unless the lessons are learned and fundamental change is implemented, the human and financial cost and sacrifice of the Covid-19 pandemic will have been in vain.  The harrowing accounts of loss and grief given by the bereaved witnesses and others who suffered during the pandemic serve to remind us why there must be radical reform.'

She said the Government's sole pandemic strategy, from 2011, 'was outdated and lacked adaptability and was beset by major flaws, which were there for everyone to see'.

That strategy focused on only one type of pandemic, and, she said 'failed adequately to consider prevention or proportionality of response, and paid insufficient attention to the economic and social consequences of pandemic response'.

Consequently, she said, it was 'virtually abandoned on its first encounter with the pandemic' by then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock.  The report identified how leaders failed to heed the lessons from Exercise Cygnus, a three-day training scenario involving nearly 1,000 Government officials to test the UK's response to a serious influenza pandemic.  The exercise highlighted 'the lack of capability and capacity to surge resources in a number of key areas, including the NHS, social care and the management of excess deaths'.

However, no reference was made that the UK's pandemic plans, policies and response capabilities were not sufficient to cope with the extreme demands of a severe pandemic during a subsequent meeting to discuss Cygnus, involving then-Prime Minister Theresa May and members of the National Security Council.  Baroness Hallett made a number of recommendations, including that a similar exercise is carried out every three years, publishing the outcome.  She also suggested a 'radical simplification' of civil emergency preparedness and resilience systems.  She said the Government 'could and should' have invested in the test and trace system, which was used to try and identify how the virus was spreading.  Lockdown, one of the most divisive elements of the Covid 19 response, will be examined in further detail in a future report.  But Baroness Hallett acknowledged it 'should be a measure of last resort'.

In a statement, the inquiry chairman said: 'My report recommends fundamental reform of the way in which the UK government and the devolved administrations prepare for whole-system civil emergencies.  If the reforms I recommend are implemented, the nation will be more resilient and better able to avoid the terrible losses and costs to society that the Covid-19 pandemic brought.  I expect all my recommendations to be acted on, with a timetable to be agreed with the respective administrations. I, and my team, will be monitoring this closely.'

Elkan Abrahamson, who represents the Covid 19 Bereaved Families for Justice group which has almost 7,000 members, said: 'We are delighted to see that Baroness Hallett has listened and taken on board most of our recommendations to prevent a disaster like the Covid pandemic ever happening again.  However, it is extremely disappointing that the vulnerable were ignored in the recommendations and there were no proposals for dealing with racial inequality, health inequalities or the effects of austerity.  We will be taking this up with the Government. We will be going back to the chair in the future to ask her to ensure that her crucial recommendations are carried out.'

This module of the inquiry held 23 days of public hearings held in central London during June and July last year.  The probe is not expected to conclude its public hearings until 2026, and is expected to cost around £200 million.