“How are you doing?”
This question is usually answered with "good," "fine," "busy," or "tired." Whichever the answer is, the subsequent conversation often leads to sharing how someone is looking for rest.
- “I’m good. We’re enjoying life right now and being able to rest.”
- “I’m fine. If I get another chill day then things will be better.”
- “I’m so busy. Our family is looking forward to things slowing down soon.”
- “I’m tired, but I just can’t find time or I physically can’t rest.”
We may not always realize it, but rest is the common desire for most people. Whether it is rest from a busy schedule, rest from physical illness, or rest incorporated into good days, rest is always the pursuit.
We’re going to look at three areas of rest to help us identify what rest we’re in need of and how to implement this rest into our daily lives.
Spiritual Rest
The root of exhaustion can be found in man’s spiritual state. You can sleep all day, take lengthy vacations, or observe a sacred Sabbath in your home and still feel exhausted and restless. Why does this happen?
True rest first begins in the heart. Proverbs tells us that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The reality is that the spiritual state of our hearts dictates the outflow of our whole lives.
Knowing God
Rest first depends on your personal relationship with God. You can be the healthiest person in the world who implements catered exercise routines and an ideal sleep schedule, but if your heart is not right with God, spiritual exhaustion will still weigh you down.
Jesus promises in Matthew 11 that all who are weary can come to him. He will provide rest for our souls. This rest goes beyond the physical. Jesus promises that all who find rest in him will receive eternal life.
“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
— John 6:35-40
Walking with God
Accepting Jesus as your savior and receiving eternal life settles the unrest caused by a life void of God. However, we continue to live in a broken world. Flesh constantly battles spirit, threatening to steal the joy and peace of eternal rest.
The author of Ecclesiastes wrestled with this. He knew God, had received a covenant from God, yet he tried to find peace in every area of life apart from God.
Toiling and striving fills our days with sorrow. Material possessions, people, work—all these things are vanity. They cannot satisfy life. There is only one way to remain in rest while on this earth:
“...fear God and keep his commands because this is for all humanity.”
— Ecclesiastes 12:13
Rhythms of Rest
The key to finding rhythms of rest is to understand that rest does not have a relationship with striving. The first rhythm of rest was modeled by God himself in Genesis 2:2-3. After six days of work, God rested from all the work that he had done. God’s Sabbath rest occurred pre-fall.
Later in Scripture, after sin and corruption filled the world, God commanded a day of rest—Sabbath—to be observed as a reflection of God’s rest on the seventh day of creation (Exodus 20:8-11). Often we see this command accompanied with God’s model and have mixed emotions about it.
Rest is ideal for all people, but the response to rest varies. Some scoff and say they will rest when they’re dead. Others strive to achieve rest only to mentally exhaust themselves over trying to follow the letter of the law. Still, there are those who fall between both camps. They desire rest, juggle busyness, strive to make rest happen, enjoy it when it happens organically, but fall back into the trap of not being able to achieve perfect Sabbath observations on their own.
This cycle feels discouraging, but here’s the beautiful part. God knew we could never achieve rest on our own. Sabbath was included in the law for four reasons:
- To highlight man’s inability to rest apart from God.
- To initiate remembrance of how God created and rested and how He intended Edenic living to include rest.
- To tangibly release man from being a slave to work.
- To prompt worship.
Rest is meant to invite humanity into God’s presence, prompt remembrance, and bring echoes of Eden into a broken world.
Final Rest
Rest was first instituted at creation, redeemed despite the fall, and will one day be restored.
All those who have surrendered their lives to Christ have the hope that God promises to make all things new. The brokenness of this world will fade away. Unrest will be a thing of the past. For in the last day, God will usher in a new heaven and earth.
Those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb will be:
“...before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
— Revelation 7:14-17
One day we will serve God, worship God, and feast at His table. This rest, which encompasses service, worship, and celebration, is holy. Until the day of restoration comes, may we ask God to sanctify us and help us lean into His rest—rest that is redeemed for us to serve, worship, and celebrate.
