A tiny little Hebrew word

Continually remembering to take Jesus' yoke...still a daily challenge. I may be mostly through the day, hours after my morning cup of coffee with Jesus begging to let Him lead me (the younger, inexperienced ox) and yet, at 4pm thinking, "Oh, I forgot to let Jesus lead." I am so frustrated! Yet, I know His mercies are new every morning and that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. Trudging on, ho!

Then tucked in my study of Romans (15:12), trying to follow the apostle Paul, he quotes Isaiah 11:10,

In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples--of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious. 

Isaiah is predicting the righteous reign of Christ, a future event. A future that gets me stoked! The imagery of the wolf and lamb, cow and bear painting a picture of peace and rest is often quoted in this chapter of Isaiah. In that peaceful day, He will be a signal or banner. I picture a white flag of surrender as the nations, everyone, allows Him to rightfully rule and reign. And then looking deeper into the meaning of the word translated inquire, I am graciously blown away at His revelation to me.

The Hebrew word darash, H1875, is a verb that has multiple meanings:

1. To tread a place with feet, therefore, to go to a place frequently, to go to a person frequently with prayer, to implore his aid. (This is where we get our root word for threshing.)
2. To seek, search after.
3. To inquire from one.
4. To ask for, demand (beg, ask back, punishment).
5. To study, follow, practice, anything--to apply and care for anything.

To be frequently approaching Christ, seeking him, studying him, following him. Isn't this a beautiful picture of what it means for me to continually, constantly remember to take Jesus' yoke? And Isaiah's prophecy comes with a promise, "his resting place shall be glorious." The nations darash on Christ because they expect (hope) that He will answer, heal, help, guide, etc. Interestingly, when Paul quotes Isaiah's prophecy, he uses the word hope in place of inquire. Therefore, he obviously thought to inquire was synonymous with hope. Inquiring is similar to hoping, expecting His answer and as a result of this hope, Isaiah promises that we will receive rest! This is the easy yoke Jesus means in Matthew 11:28-30:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, an you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. 

Christ is the hope in flesh. Without treading a worn out path toward Christ we have no hope and no rest. I am in Christ, but how do I darash Him? How do I have the persistence of a 4-year old who never gives up the asking and tugging on my arm until I go exploring with her or play a game with her?
Starring at the page, does verse 13 (Romans 15) answer my questioning?

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Paul believes God to fill the Romans with joy and peace so that their lives are marked by very much hope/darash/seeking/treading possible by the power of the Holy Spirit. So I start now by treading a path back and forth to Jesus and in time (marked by joy and peace) I will abound in the seeking. The path from me to Jesus will be a beat down dirt path. This is possible by the power of the Holy Spirit. I need to pray the Holy Spirit helps me darash.
Join me today, in begging the Holy Spirit allow us to darash (tread back and forth, inquiring) Jesus each day this week. In a week, we'll see if our status is marked by rest.