Perfect Rest & the Sweetest Comfort

^“And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”

Luke 12:25 ESV

Here I was. I had painstakingly planned for the next day for weeks—no, months. I was prepared. I had prayed about this. I had planned. At times I was even excited. And now I couldn’t sleep.

I was scared. I looked at my bedside clock… 11 PM. Then 2 AM…  then 4 AM. Could it really be 6 AM?!

Have you ever been struck with fear? My name is Brian, and I am a worrier — and needlessly so! Even those men around Jesus were tempted toward fear, who then reminded them He cares even for the birds – and we, His friends, are worth so much more to Him than birds.

Because our Good Shepherd “gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to His heart” (Isaiah 40:11), we need only to call to Him in our weakness.

We serve a Master so compassionate, He lifts us into His arms, weakness and all. “What perfect safety!,” as Charles Spurgeon notes, “Who could hurt those in His embrace? To do so, they must hurt the Shepherd first. What perfect rest and the sweetest comfort!”

Lord, help us to cry out to you, our Good Shepherd, in the midst of our fears, and experience such perfect rest and sweet comfort, in your embrace.