One of the most convicting things I have recently come to realize about Jesus is that He was never, not once, in a hurry. ~ Mark Buchanan
Rest. The word conjures a sense of peace and quietness. “Sit down, rest a spell,” your gramma might have said after a long day. The loss of a loved one is referred to as ‘eternal rest’. A doctor’s prescription for illness might be ‘bed rest’. Or someone might say, “I think I’ll go lie down and rest a bit.” Translated, that means an afternoon nap!
There are ‘rest stops’ on the highway for a bathroom break and a stretch. In music, it’s a pause of silence between notes. There are arm rests, head rests and foot rests. The rest we all long for, however, is rest for our minds, relief from the constant barrage of thoughts and worries that run through our heads. That requires us to know and understand the rest of God.
For God, rest takes on a different meaning. God ‘rested’ on the seventh day because His work of creation was finished. There was no more planning or execution to do. The heavens and earth were complete and running smoothly. He had decreed The Blessing -“be fruitful, multiply and replenish”-on every species, including mankind. Without that sneaky snake’s interference, aka Satan, earth would still be a Garden of Eden with every need fully supplied (Phil. 4:19).
Exodus explains that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it (v. 20:11). God ordained one day each week, to be a ‘blessing’ for His people as a day of rest and restoration of spirit, soul and body.
Some chapters later, Moses was conversing with God about taking the Israelites into the Promised Land. God told Moses, “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” (v. 33:14). Apparently spending time in God’s presence provides rest, refreshment and restoration.
To find the rest of God, you must first lose your grip on worries, dreads and fears. As a born-again Christian, you can take Jesus words to heart when He said, “Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me… and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Matt. 11:28-29) Rest for your soul means freedom from worry, anxiety, tension, dread, and every other negative emotion. The Amplified Classic Bible confirms that you will find relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet for your souls.
Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? No more stress, pressure or worry. How is that possible? Because God is Love and, like any good parent, He wants to remove your burdens and relieve your problems. Paul explained that God wants you to cast all your cares upon Him, for He careth for you (I Peter 5:7).
Partnered with that is the truth that God is able. Paul wrote in Acts, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance… (v. 20:32). Later He wrote that God is able to make all grace abound toward you that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work (2 Cor. 9:8).
So now that you know He is willing-because Love always blesses-and able-because of His divine, supernatural creative power, where do you find God’s rest?
Rest in His Word
Faith is the connection between your problem and God’s answer. You cannot rest if you don’t understand the privileges and promises of your position in Christ, and you cannot know that without spending time in His Word. My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes, keep them in the midst of thine heart; (Prov. 4:20-21).
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). The Bible doesn’t say faith might come; it says faith comes! The more time you spend in the Word through study and meditation, the stronger your faith connection to His promise.
Rest in His Promises
For all the promises of God in Him are “yea”; and in Him “amen” unto the glory of God (2 Cor. 1:20). Unlike my hubby, whose first response to any question is “NO!”, God says YES! Yea, I will bless her (Sarah). Yea, and he shall be blessed (Isaac). From the beginning of Creation, God sought to bless His people.
Consider the multiplied millions of Israelites who spent forty years in the wilderness because they refused to listen to God. Instead they grumbled and complained, and made false idols to worship. Even then, Yea, forty years didst Thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old and their feet swelled not (Neh.9:21).
Rest in His Presence
Thou wilt show me the path of life; in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16:11). Resting in His presence is a time of prayer and listening. If you’ve ever had a one-sided ‘conversation’ with someone, you understand that you can’t talk and listen at the same time. Prayer is good, but so is quiet, with thoughts turned inward, listening for His still, small voice of wisdom and revelation.
I’ve heard it said that you should ‘practice the presence of God’. That means we should become aware that His Spirit dwells in you. The answers you seek are in you, if you will seek to remain aware of Him throughout each day until you sense the times of refreshing [that] shall come from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19).
Rest in His Power
Satan couldn’t touch Jesus, did you notice? He couldn’t kill Him as a young child when Herod murdered all children under the age of two. (The wise men brought enough ‘gifts’ to finance their trip to Egypt.) He couldn’t tempt Jesus with wealth or power in the wilderness. (Jesus understood his position and inheritance in God.) Later, He walked through the crowd trying to stone him.
Because we are ‘in Him’, the devil can’t touch us either unless we let him. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8). The devil cannot touch you unless you give him an opening through fear, doubt and unbelief (worry). Instead, stay focused on His promises like this one in 2 Peter. His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness (v. 1:3). Or this one in 2 Timothy: For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (v. 1:7).
God is able! No matter how big or long-standing your problem, He is not intimidated by it. He wants you to rest in Him, release your cares and let Him handle all your problems. No, it’s not easy. It takes patience and tenacity to NOT worry or scheme. It takes commitment and determination to focus solely on His promises and not let negative words out of your mouth.
Start with His Word, then strengthen your faith by hearing, study and meditation. Pray-which simply means, talk to God. Tell Him what you want and what promise you are using as the ‘title deed’ to your deliverance. Then rest. Relax, knowing that His all-encompassing Love and divine power are working on your situation as long as you leave it in His capable hands. He’s got a solution far bigger and better than anything you could ever dream or ask or think!
