ABANDONING OUTCOMES - As we take on Jesus’ yoke, we abandon outcomes to God, accepting that we do not have the wherewithal to make life come out right. Even if we “suffer according to the will of God,” we “entrust [our] souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right” (1 Peter 4:19).
This is the lowliness of heart learned in his yoke. What rest comes with it! Humility is the framework within which all virtue lives. “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7).
Humility, which involves losing our self-sufficiency, is a secret of soul rest because it does not presume to secure outcomes. On the other hand, pride is the root of disobedience. We think we are “big enough” to take our lives into our own hands, and so we disobey what we know to be right. This distances us from God and forces us to live on our own. Soul rest becomes impossible.
Thus, fleshly lust wages war against the soul (see 1 Peter 2:11) by enticing us to uproot our dependent life, pulling it away from God, which will deprive our soul of what it needs to enliven and regulate our whole being. To allow lust (or strong desires) to govern our lives is to exalt our will over God’s. That is why Paul called covetousness idolatry (see Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5).
We have become the idol, and we are prepared to sacrifice the well-being and possessions of others to our self-interest. Arrogant wrongdoing is the deepest possible wound one can inflict on another’s soul. When living in the cradle of humility, we understand that God has a plan for our lives that goes far beyond anything we can work out.
We simply rest in his life as he gives it to us. While resting in God, we can be free from all anxiety, which means deep soul rest. We don’t fret or get angry because others seem to be doing better than we are, even though we think they might be less deserving than we are.
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