2023_12_29 Insight Post- Tammy Anderson

“As for you, go your way until the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days, you will rise again to receive the inheritance set aside for you.” Daniel 12:13

Daniel has received visions and dreams from the Lord about the end times with the ultimate end being everlasting life or everlasting separation, based on one’s choice to follow or not follow the one true God. These visions and dreams are confusing and scary with some detail unknown. After telling Daniel these unsettling things, the Lord says for Daniel to go his way and rest. The Hebrew meaning of rest in this passage means to settle down and remain and to make quiet in mind.¹

David Guzik in The Enduring Word Commentary² compares this to another conversation, one between Jesus and Peter in John 21 when Jesus told Peter something difficult was coming – that Peter would die a martyr’s death. I can sense the fear and frustration in Peter’s response when he asks Jesus how it will end for another apostle, John, when he says, “What about him?” Peter seems to be expressing the unfairness of this, and Jesus responds with “What is it to you? Follow me.”

In both situations, something horrific and difficult was coming, and Daniel and Peter did not have all the answers. Daniel was told to rest and wait.  Peter was told not to concern himself with these details but to continue what he was doing, following Jesus and carrying out His work.

If I had been part of either of these conversations, I would have been feeling the weight of these words and would have struggled with trusting and resting in God. I probably would have spent that night tossing and turning and would have spent the next few days in hyper-vigilance, planning and even forcing a different outcome.

But these two passages also cause me ask: What does it mean to rest in God and follow Him as He has called me to do when I do not have all the answers, especially when it involves heartache and pain?

In my walk with Christ through the years, I have found that when I sit and wrestle with the tough questions and with the hurt and invite Him into it, I receive healing, comfort and a deeper connection with Him. Other times when I short-circuit the process and look for over-simplified answers, I miss out by not allowing God to do His work in my life and miss out on His changing me and my heart. When I do not let Him change my heart, I can grow numb, hardened and cynical.

Resting in Him in difficulty means fixing my eyes on Him and what He is doing; drawing closer to Him and leaning on Him. It means not controlling or manipulating circumstances and others for the result I want. It means taking hold of His peace that surpasses all human understanding.

Like Daniel and Peter, we do not have to know or understand all the details, but we are called to trust and rest in Him.

Yes, my soul, find rest in God
my hope comes from him.
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
Psalm 62:5-6 (NIV)

Tammy Anderson
New Hope Small Group Leader

References: ¹https://biblehub.com/hebrew/5117.htm
²https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/daniel-12/