When rest is a 4-letter word

Rest. I never thought a tiny word like rest could be so difficult for me to accomplish. It seems so easy. Just stop moving, right? All of us should be great at rest. Don’t we sit down during the day or at some point watch some show on Netflix. Maybe we unplug by getting on social media or flip on the TV hoping to catch up on the shows we have DVR’ed. The terrible thing about all of that rest is, isn’t not restful. No one gets up from a 6 hour binge watching session and feels refreshed and ready to take on the world. We usually end those sessions feeling like we can’t go on without a nap. If inactivity isn’t restful to us then what brings rest? How can we be people of rest?

And in continuing the thought, why is rest necessary? If I just keep pushing myself, I can get a head of my competition. I can complete more tasks in my day. Do I really need rest or am I just being lazy when I get tired? Science has proven that if we don’t rest our bodies wear out faster. We cannot push at a furious pace without suffering serious physical and psychological side effects. I know it’s obvious to all of us but don’t we push ahead like a run away train and expect different results.

Scripture is clear about this topic. Rest is vital. We were created to need, want and live with rest cycles in our lives. I was recently listening to a sermon on rest and the pastor, Levi Lusko, pointed out the most interesting detail about creation. When God created man on the 6th day, He choose the very next day for rest. So man was created, given instructions on his job in the garden, and then God gives Adam his first task. God instructed rest for him to be ready for the job ahead. Adam was given the task of naming all the creatures and caring for the garden but rather than God putting Adam to work immediately, God introduced rest. (Genesis 1-2) . Does that blow your mind like it did mine? If the One who created me says I need rest, how silly is it to argue? He knows better than I do how I am wired and what makes me function at a high level.

We were created to need rest. When God gave the Sabbath to His people it wasn’t to force them to always be behind in their work, it was so that, when they took time to stop and focus on God as the provider, they were able to accomplish more when they worked. When we choose not to allow rest to be apart of our daily life, we work against our created design.

God was so serious about rest that in the commands given, if people were found working on the Sabbath, they were put to death. That’s pretty serious. That wasn’t carried through into the New Testament but if you think about it, we put ourselves to death if we choose to never rest. We cannot keep ourselves together nor our relationships if we choose to never rest.

So back to the question, how do we find rest? The only way we can truly rest is when we understand that God is responsible for the results of our labor and He is trustworthy to provide for our needs. Sound too simple? That’s what makes it so hard. We want it to be some difficult task that we can check off our list and show God we have done the work but it’s all trusting. When the Israelites were taken into the wilderness and out of Egypt, God gave them manna to eat. What did He say about the Sabbath? He said on the day before, collect twice as much so that on the Sabbath they could rest and not have to work for provisions. If the Israelites went out on the Sabbath to find manna, they found nothing. If they collected too much, worried that they might not have their needs met, the excess rotted. This was a weekly reminder that God was providing and would continue to provide until they reached the Promise Land.

I think the best way to describe trusting God with provision, is the illustration of a farmer. When a farmer has a field, he preps the land for the seed. He then plants the seed. He cares for the land over the weeks and months – all the while trusting that the seed is taking root and will provide a harvest. When we trust God for provision we still work. We do the tasks set before us, our jobs. All the while, trusting that the provision will come. God is the one who provides, not my endless hours at the office or the way I rush from one thing to the next without a break. Rest is in the trusting. I don’t have to make myself anxious about the results. God knows the need and the He knows the way to best meet that need. It’s far better to trust Him to create a harvest than to stress and work ourselves into the ground.

It’s a rest of the mind what is badly needed these days. Will you take the challenge with me to rest? My challenge? When I find I am worrying about the result or the outcome of my work, I will stop and remind myself that God is in control. I will place my trust in Him alone and believe that He is working for my good. (Jeremiah 29:11)