I'm sure that what I read this morning can be interpreted lots of different ways, and I'm sure that if I had time to dig deeper I may not read the verses below in the same way.

However, as I was doing my reading this morning, there was something about Lev. 26:33-35 that caused me to stop and reread it several times.

I found the whole concept of God demanding that the land be "given rest" every seven years very similar to Him telling the Israelites to rest one day a week.

And I found His promise regarding what would happen if they did not give the land the rest it deserved very interesting.

Listen to what He said would happen if they did not obey Him,

Your land will be laid waste, and

your cities will lie in ruins.

Then the land will enjoy its sabbath

years all the time that it lies

desolate and you are in the country

of your enemies;

then the land will rest and enjoy its

sabbaths.

All the time that it lies desolate, the

land will have the rest it did not

have during the sabbaths you lived

in it.

Leviticus 26:33-35

Does anyone else find the use of words like "desolate, ruins, rest, and enjoy" a kind-of strange combination?

I've often heard that God's ways are opposite of man's ways, and that things like

"the first shall be last" and "the meek inheriting the earth" are perfect examples of God's view of what He sees as important.

So, it makes sense to me that He would see a time of desolation and ruin as a perfect opportunity for rest and relaxation.

What else would there be to do in a city, lying in rubble, that seemed to no longer have a purpose?

Maybe you're at a place in life where things seem desolate.

Maybe you feel that what you once had now lies in ruins.

Maybe you are extremely ill and there is nothing else to do but work on getting better.

I just felt this morning as if God was saying, "now is your chance to rest."

Enjoy this time of uncertainty as a time to regroup and restructure the tired you.

I've had plenty of seasons of ruin and desolation.

I find myself slipping in and out of them from time to time, and I don't like the feelings that I have when I am there.

But there is a sense of beauty in a season when God says, "REST."

I love that He didn't forsake the land, He simply gave it an opportunity to be restored.

I'm praying for you this morning as I get ready for school.

Praying that no matter what season you are in this morning, you will know without a shadow of a doubt that God, the season creator, is with you in a powerful way.

He is not surprised by your condition today.

He is not surprised by what is coming tomorrow or next week or next year.......

He goes ahead of you, smoothing rough roads.

Lean on Him today,