Restful thoughts

I’m tired. How about you? Too much to do, too many late nights, too much to do, too much pressure – and, I almost forgot – too much to do.

I think we’ve forgotten how to rest. I’ve been thinking about what rest means and what God wants for His people. We often think of rest as a necessity after an exhausting week or a reward for hard work or, perhaps, as a waste of time. But I’m learning that’s not what God intends. Biblical rest is a blessing for those who believe.

It’s not like I didn’t know anything about rest. I grew up being told that Sunday was a day of rest. I went to a college where rest on Sunday was obligatory. There was nothing we could do besides rest. No homework. No TV. No sports. No dating. Just church and people and spiritual stuff and rest. And also lots of food.

But it all felt a bit legalistic to me, so I discarded the rules in favor of the principle. Which is fine if you understand the principle, which I did not. Add enthusiasm for ministry, mix in a few good opportunities and stir to serve up a plate of exhaustion.

Hebrews chapters three and four tell the story of the people of Israel who were not able to “enter God’s rest.” Though they had received God’s promises in the past and had seen the hand of God in miraculous ways, they did not believe Joshua and Caleb’s report of a land prepared by God for their habitation. Their disbelief cost them a generation of walking in circles, a worthwhile metaphor to consider as a description of our own lives when we’re not experiencing God’s rest.

The preacher to the Hebrews warns his readers to consider that the promise still remains: there is an eternal rest prepared by God for those who believe. This rest finds its roots in the 7th day of Creation, set aside by God because His work was done. And today, nothing has changed – His work is still done.

God invites us to eternal rest, but it’s not the promise of an extended naptime. God’s rest equals completion. To enter God’s rest is to enter the peace beyond the conflict, the calm beyond the storm, the joy beyond the heartache – only fully realized in eternity, but available now to those who believe.

We rest, then, not because we have finished our work, but because God has finished His. We rest not because we are tired, but as an act of faith, to remind ourselves that God is the One who will bring all things to pass.

It makes me think that Biblical rest doesn’t happen last, but first. We can rest at the beginning of the day or the beginning of the week – or (looking for some application to church planting?) at the beginning of a ministry – because the context for all we do is that the Timeless, Self-existent One is done.

Can I invite you to join me in trying to make application to our schedules? Stop what you’re doing, sit down, take a nap, listen to music, watch the grass grow – and do so believing that God is at work, completing what He has completed. When you close your eyes at night, choose to trust. Biblical rest is a blessing for those who believe.