Rest in the Lord — Hans R. Waldvogel

Resting in the Lord Instead of Striving

Rest. Now you know that's one of the commands of God. One of the most gracious, most precious, most fruitful commands of God. And His commands are not grievous. In one place Jesus said, I know that His commandment is life everlasting.

Waiting Patiently for God’s Salvation

And when He gives me this command, rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. He shows me the way to receive His salvation. It isn't done by my own striving. That's where we spoil it for God. We had a friend, a professor in the Baptist Theological Seminary, Professor Rauschenbusch.

Not the one that translated these songs, his father. He was a real professor. And his wife wanted him to have his face shaven. He'd forget to shave evidently. And so she sent him to the barber. I guess he couldn't shave himself.

So the barber began to soap. Fixed the soap. He had the old time mug, you know. Soaked the professor's face. And while he was soaping, they got into a theological argument. And the barber took his knife, his razor.

And he had shaven half of his face. And then he got this professor so sore that he jumped up with his half face full of soap and ran out in the street. So naturally he couldn't get shaved. And the Lord can't shave you either if you don't rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.

Resting in God’s Presence and Command

I have to talk to you as unto babes. Praise the Lord. Listen. Rest, rest, rest. What a job we have to rest. Rest in the Lord. Why thou hast beset me behind and before and laid thine hand upon me. Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

And this is life eternal. And His commandment is not grievous. Anybody here has learned to obey that one command, to wait patiently for the Lord. Rest in the Lord. What does that mean? Why it means to rest in the Lord.

People sometimes flatter me. They say, my brother Walpole, you've got a lot to do. I said, where? I've been at it 72 years now and I haven't yet started. I'm still resting. I really honestly resting in the Lord and waiting patiently for Him.

And He has given me the desires of my heart. He has. It is a wonderful arrangement that God makes for His people. And we'll have to learn that lesson somewhere along the way. We will have to or we'll come up with broken works and a spoiled job in that day.

Quietness, Confidence, and Orderly Work

He said, in quietness and confidence shall be your strength. Most people, you know, spoil it all. I said to a woman, used to be at the faith home. She hadn't been there for years. I said, listen, one fifth of the work you do, you could do five times more.

If you would just wait a minute, wait a minute. Contemplate your work first. Sit down for a half an hour and think of what you're going to do this day. But no, they'll rush into one corner as if they were catching a mouse.

And then when they get into that corner, then they forget the rag was in the other corner. So they run back there and they grab that rag. And then now where's the water? And why in the world isn't the fire lit?

And so on and so on. And all day long and at night, nothing has been accomplished. You could sit down, you know, and know where the rag is and then go and pick it up. And it was quietly. I had to learn that when I got into the jewelry business.

Learning Calm Focus in the Jewelry Business

I used to let the work ride me, crush me. I'd get a job. I'd worry over the job as soon as I got it. Oh, it was such a difficult job. And I take a file and a hammer and a saw and I get to work. And first thing I know, I had spoiled the thing and I had to start all over again.

And then one day a man came from New York, jeweler. Boss said, now here's a very good worker. I was still an apprentice. And he sat down alongside of me. And he was given a job that we knew beautiful brooch.

He was to make the, he was given the design. And we knew that it would take any jeweler in the shop a week at least to finish that work. Well, my friend sat there and he took that design and he whistled a song.

He whistled, Oh sole mio, una giornata sole. I thought, what kind of a fella is that? He sat there a half an hour and he just looked at the design. But you know, when he picked up his metal and picked up his hammer and picked up his saw, one, two, three, that thing was taking shape.

I remember how all the men in the shop came running together. They'd never seen anything like that. Why there it was. He made every stroke to count. Every stroke of the file. Every move counted because he had had it all under his control.

Orderliness as a Picture of Rest

Sometimes you go into a shop or an office and you find everything topsy-turvy. Everything piled in one corner, piled on the desk. You don't know where anything is. If you ask, where is this letter? Oh, yeah, I don't know.

Well, pull out the drawers and you don't know where it is. Go into the office of a successful businessman and you'll find his desk clean, as neat as a pin. And he's sitting there as if he had never had anything to do.

He's preserving his natural strength. And now God says, rest in the Lord. In other words, let me do it for you. Get quiet before God. Wait patiently for Him. He can do more in one minute than I can think of in six hours.

Faith Means Letting Jesus Work

The Lord told us that one time. I discovered that when I rush into things, I get nervous. I wreck myself. But when I learn to trust God, rest in the Lord and wait. Really? Why, that's faith. Why, I said, without me, ye can do nothing.

Have you found that out? Why do we try it? That's how we spoil it for God. We spoil our own life job for God. And I'm so thankful that I had that fellow sitting alongside of me. Since then, I've worked differently.

I've worked differently in the kingdom of God. Instead of letting the things run me, I wait patiently for the Lord. And my life has been different. My ministry has been entirely different because God has done it.

And I know that I could have been more quiet still and been more successful and more fruitful. But I'm here to tell you that it works. What works? Who works? Why, Jesus says, without me. He means you can do nothing.

Nothing. Oh, beloved, you don't know how wonderfully Jesus Christ can work until you let Him work for you. Until you become His workmanship. We who have believed enter into that rest. Believe what? Why believe?

Christ Living and Working Within Believers

Oh, Christ, that I'm in you and you are in me. And that without you, I'm nothing. Without you, I can do nothing. And that's why you've come to be mine. And that's why you've come to dwell within me and to live out your own life within me.

And oh, as a minister of the gospel or a Sunday school worker or any kind of a worker in the kingdom of God, there is no greater, no more wonderful discovery to make than to discover that there is within you a spirit, the spirit of the living God that knows how the exceeding greatness of His power is waiting to flow through channels.

Presenting the Body as a Living Sacrifice

And unless I present myself a living sacrifice, my very body. Oh, how this body is being wrecked today by people defiled. The temple of God is being defiled. God wants it. And when God gets hold of this body, He'll make every member of this to count for Him.

He'll make this rest in the Lord. What a job, what a pleasant, what a life job this is. Rest in the Lord in quietness and rest shall be your confidence. In stillness shall be your strength.