Daily Journal: 2 December

In Repentance and Rest

Unrecognised sin from childhood to adolescence, to young adulthood and onward, cast shadows of wrong thinking, false beliefs, and shame. In repentance I find beauty and need of a God who has always been faithful and more-than, even when I thought He wasn’t who He is.

Isaiah 30:15 (NIV)

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:

“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength,

Repentance is the most cathartic, purgative experience a person can go through. Submitting to the truth that God was always there even when I didn't know how to recognise Him, His eyes as gentle and probing as they are sorrowful for the distance my sin of unbelief created. All that time I spent shackling myself to ideas and opinions that were not rooted in His love or understanding.

Psalm 23:5 (ESV)

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Repentance liberates the soul and flings open the gates of praise and thankfulness, sequestering me into God’s presence and His unmeasured mercy. I am newly aware of my position in Him, of His covenant with me.

In repentance and rest is salvation.

What is salvation? Preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss (OXFORD LANGUAGES).

In repentance is new hope and assurance. In rest is peace. In quietness and trust is strength.