Learn to Rest, and He Will Handle the Rest
January 2023
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How often is your heart troubled? Do circumstances and situations burden your soul? Are there bondages of sin that seem impossible to break?
We are taught from childhood that if there is a problem, then we must work to uncover a solution. Broken items must be fixed, and obstacles must be overcome. Immense frustration sets in when you try everything, yet nothing brings a resolution. Frustration turns into discouragement when that thorn in the flesh digs deeper as you wrestle all the harder to extract it. The outcome is a place of total desperation. What else can you do? What more can be done? Finally, the time has come to rest!
In Genesis 2:2, we are told that God rested on the seventh day.
Obviously, the Lord was not exhausted from the six days of creation, but this rest indicated that the work was completed. Elohim ceased from the creative work for a day. This was the foundation for the Sabbath day, which was to be kept holy and dedicated to the Lord for worship unto Him.
In Genesis 8:4, the Scripture says that the ark came to rest after the flood waters receded. This was a positional rest atop Mount Ararat. The ark that had been floating and drifting for weeks was now grounded and stable forever. In these two examples are truths concerning rest that will help every believer.
The first point is that rest does not necessarily mean a total cessation of activity. The Sabbath rest brought a reprieve from the labor one performed all other days of the week. For example, if you were a builder, then, on the Sabbath, you would rest from your activity of building. Notice that work of the priests actually became greater during this day of Sabbath rest. As we learn to rest in Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts will increase.
Israel was even commanded in Leviticus 25:4 to give the land a rest every seventh year. In fact, God’s people ignored the sabbath year rest for four hundred and ninety years, and that disobedience would bring about seventy years of captivity outside of the land. The unbelief and rebellion of Numbers 13-14 resulted in an entire generation not entering into the rest of the promised land.
Presently, under this better, new covenant, we have the fulfillment of the Sabbath rest every minute of the day! Before we were saved, our lives were spent laboring under the broken law. The moment we said yes to Christ, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made us free from the law of sin and death. The work and toil as a slave unto sin has ended because faith in the finished work of Christ has delivered us.
Please, don’t be as Israel of old and ignore the rest!
In Hebrews 4:9-11 we are told the following: “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”
The beauty of the rest available to us is that it’s found in Christ. This is positional, not conditional. The soul that’s tossed on life’s seas, being thrust around by every wind of bad news, troubles, sickness, bondages, etc., can now come to rest. So many Christians are worn out from trying to navigate the troubled waters. They say, “I have to do all I can to fix this relationship” or “I’ll just keep trying harder to break this bad habit.” All the while things are getting worse. Just as the ark rested on Mount Ararat, you can come to rest at the foot of Mount Calvary.
If you are in Christ, then why do you keep working as though you are under the law? Bondages must be broken, relationships must be restored, sicknesses need healed, and you know the only one who is able to do it all!
Please allow me to share a brief illustrative testimony. Decades ago, my father smoked cigarettes on a daily basis. In fact, he would go through several packs of cigarettes in a single day. He was saved, loved God, and was used by God to share the gospel. The Holy Spirit had dealt with his heart, and Dad desired to quit smoking, however that little two-inch long cigarette was more powerful than his willpower and self-discipline. He tried very hard to stop, but to no avail.
One day he called my grandmother, and, in the course of the conversation, she said, “John, why are you trying to do what Jesus already did at the cross? Quit trying to quit and just rest.” Those words hit him.
A short time later, Dad was going about his day, and he realized that hours had passed since he even thought about a cigarette. The desire was totally gone! He was free from that bondage through no efforts of his own but by the power of God working as Dad began to rest!
The burden of worry that you carry must be laid down at the foot of Calvary. That is where Christ will bear the load, and you will find rest. Give Him your heavy yoke today and take upon yourself His yoke, which is to rest. Then, you will be carrying the burden of continually learning to rest. And I promise that He will perform the work needed to handle the rest!
I leave you with the great invitation given by our Lord in Matthew 11:28-30: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
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