By Samuel Song
Senior Pastor Solomon's Porch (Hong Kong)
This article appears in the Spring 2024 issue of the FCA Donor Publication. The FCA publication is a gift from our FCA staff to all donors giving $50 or more annually. For more information about giving, visit here.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.”—John 15:5
I love FCA’s new theme for 2024—24/7. When I think about the theme, I am drawn to Jesus’ words in John 15 about abiding. Abiding means simply to remain, to be held. We don’t go anywhere but we stay where Jesus is and find the strength and motivation we need so we can bear fruit.
The opposite of abiding is striving. We are told in Psalm 46:10 to “cease striving and know that I am God” (NASB 1995). This passage is a rebuke to the nations that were attacking Israel, as well as a rebuke to the Israelites for not trusting in the Lord. When we realize we can do nothing without Jesus, it causes us to cling to Him. When we think we can do it on our own, we focus on our performance and we strive. We try to make things happen in our own strength and will. But we must remember: A part from Him, we can do nothing.
Rest is ultimately a declaration of trust. It’s about believing God is at work in our lives so we don’t have to strive. God is in control so we can let go. The cease-striving command in Psalm 46 comes from the Hebrew imperative verb meaning “let drop” and “relax.” We can take time to drop everything and relax because God is in control, and He has our best interests in mind.
We are a people who are so much into doing. That is the nature of"Rest is ultimately a declaration of trust. It’s about believing God is at work in our lives so we don’t have to strive."--Samuel Song sport. Work out, practice, perform, push, push, push. As followers of Christ, we need to operate in a different way.
In John 6, Jesus has an interesting conversation with a large crowd that was following Him: Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Don’t work for the food that perishes but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal of approval on him. (John 6:26-27)
So they asked Him, “What can we do to perform the works of God” (v. 28)—a fair question since Jesus asked them to work for food that endures to eternal life. Look carefully at His response: “This is the work of God—that you believe in the one he has sent” (v.29).
The crowd asked, “What shall we do?” and Jesus responded, “Believe in Me.” Many in the crowd were confused. They asked Him what they needed to do, and His response was to believe.
This goes to the heart of our problem. We always want to do, but God wants us to believe. When we truly believe, truly trust and truly let go, the work will take care of itself. The problem is, we talk like we believe but we really don’t. If we really believed, the work would take care of itself. If we truly believed Jesus is the only way to true rest and renewal, we would share the message of the Gospel with everyone we can. Why don’t we? Maybe because we truly don’t believe. We just talk about believing.
John Piper says, “Missions exists because worship doesn’t.” He contends that if worship was truly happening, then missions would happen on its own. Missions would be the overflow of our worship.
Resting is a declaration of believing and trusting in who God is and being secure in His love and care for us. Sadly, the Israelites could not enter into His rest because of their unbelief (Hebrews 3:19). What about us?
Our mission this year is to Reset, Renew, Refuel and be Ready. Let’s enter His rest by abiding, ceasing our striving, letting go and trusting our faithful Father, who is actively at work in and around us. You will find that entering His rest will lead us to fruitfulness.
BIO: Pastor Samuel Song, or “PSam” as he is affectionately known, serves as the senior pastor of Solomon’s Porch, an international church in Hong Kong. He and his wife, Lisa, planted Solomon’s Porch in 2003 and since then have planted international churches in Beijing, Singapore, Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul, as well as Indonesian and Filipino congregations in Hong Kong. He is a former college basketball and volleyball player and still competes in basketball and softball. He has four wonderful children, Elyse, Emma, Hannah and Andrew, who are the joy of his life. Pastor Song received his theological education at Fuller Theological Seminary and is honored to serve on the FCA Board of Trustees, serving the East Global Region.
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