Rest 

Pastor Duck's Weekly Devotional 

Taiwan Church News 2648, December 1, 2002 

Translated by David Alexander 

He said, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." (Exodus 33:14) 

There's a young woman in Taipei who showed great promise as a thinker and writer from the time she was a teenager. She comes from a poor family, so didn't know if she could go to university at all. She applied for and received scholarships that took her all the way through graduate school. 

The scholarship that she received for college not only paid all of her fees, it also provided a stipend at the beginning of every month. In graduate school she also paid no fees, but the foundation that paid for her didn't give the monthly stipend until the end of the month. It didn't matter, because she had won some prizes in university that enabled her to get through the first month.

Upon finishing school, she did not decide to teach, but to make her living as a writer. That's when the problems began. She sent copies of the essays, articles and poems for which she had received awards to many publishers. She said, "I can write like this, and people like to read it. You'll make money on selling my stuff. Give me an advance and I'll set to work." 

Publishers didn't respond as she expected. They said, "Give us essays, articles and poems, and after we've made money on them, we'll pay you." 

God promised "rest" to Moses. Looking at the words, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest" we cannot say for sure if that "rest" was something Moses would have AS he went, or after he got there. 

A writer who wants to be paid may haggle over whether the payment comes as an advance or only after the writing has been published, but must write. A believer who wants to receive God's "rest" must do what God commanded Moses, "Go". 

So, why are you standing still if you want God's rest? 

Prayer: God of movement, move us to your rest. AMEN