Rest

 When the staff of our church gathers for our weekly meeting, we always have a time of sharing His Word and then spending time speaking of just what that particular Word choice means to us. This past week, we talked about the rest of God. The rest we have in Jesus Christ. A rest that is real and deep, but a rest that I believe too many of His people never fully enter into.

Hebrews 4:9 reads, "There remains then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God." The root meaning of Sabbath is rest, or day of rest. Its biblical source is found in the creation account in Genesis where we're told that God spent 6 days in the work of creation, and then on the 7th day, "He rested." The purpose here is not to get into a debate about the creation account, or what comprised a day, but to focus on the reality of and our need to experience His rest.

Many see the rest spoken of here as being a state where no work of any kind is undertaken. That's true in the strict legal sense, but Hebrews 4 is speaking of a rest that is far deeper than just leaving off from physical activity. One can be nothing and yet still have a mind, emotions, and spirit in total turmoil. The rest spoken of here is far more than an outer ceasing of activity. It is a rest that affects every aspect of our being. It is a rest that is the fruit of our abiding in Him. Of having our minds, emotions, and spirit occupied with His Presence. Rest is the fruit of abiding fully in Him. Too many of us may come to Him for salvation, but we never fully enter into His rest. Christ may have saved us from the penalty of sin but we still live at the mercy of this fallen world. We continue to try and deal with our lives in this fallen world in our own strength, using our own resources. It's a recipe for failure. I know, I spent years not just as a believer, but as a pastor trying to handle so much of my life this way. I was His. I loved Him, yet I was prey to great amounts of stress, anxiety, and fear. I believed Hebrews 4:9, but I did not fully experience the power of its promise. 

The promise says that there remains a rest for His people, but it's a rest we must choose to enter into. The promise points back to the experience of the Israelites and God's promised new land for them. A generation of Israel never entered that rest due to their inability to fully trust their God. They lived in the wilderness and they died in that wilderness. Too many of us live out our faith lives in much the same way. Worry, fear, and mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual exhaustion are our lot in life. Why do we not enter into the fullness of that promise?

For me, the entry came when I ceased wrestling with Him and the circumstances of my life. I ceased  always wanting my circumstances and situation to change, and always trying to get them to change or convince Him that they must. I was saved, but I lacked joy and peace in my life. And there was simmering anger about it all. Yet He never left off calling me to the fullness of His rest. Finally, I quit my striving and yielded to Him, surrendered all of my life, especially those great parts of it that I was dissatisfied with to Him. In doing so, I entered into the rest that had remained for me. Rest in Him. Rest that was there all the time. Rest that came not from what was or was not happening around me, but from what was happening within me. He was what was happening within me. He, and not I, was the One on the throne of my life and heart.

Have you entered that Sabbath rest, or do you continue to wrestle with all the matters of your life and be defeated by them? Victory comes through your surrender. Rest, peace, and joy come in and through Him. These come through the fruit of His life within. The fullness of His life. Haven't you wrestled and striven with not only your circumstances, but with Him long enough? The way up is down. Surrender all to Him and ascend the heights that He has for you in Christ. Do it. Do it now. Be at peace.

Blessings,
Pastor O