A lot of people spend thousands to go on vacation every year. However, it has been discovered that when people go on vacation, often times they don’t actually rest. Some carry their laptops, phones, and some even get in touch with their place of work so invariably they spend so much money to not rest. Which is sad considering that there are so many benefits when we choose to rest. A restful person is happier and gets along with others more easily. But even then are we really resting as we ought to? Rest is usually interrupted by anxiety. It is often times not a tangible reason that we’re anxious, it is out thoughts that anxious in nature, and before we know it, our rest is once again stolen.
Now if one was to apply this truth when on vacation, then he or she is set to go right? Sure, but how about people who cannot afford to travel on vacation? Does that mean that they can never enjoy rest since they do not have the money? Well, there is a rest that is within the reach of any human being. This rest is given by Jesus Christ. He is the Author and Giver of this special rest.
This is very important to know since there are so many difficulties in the world. There are uncertainties, disappointments, needs, lack, and of course dealing with satanic forces fighting against us. The list goes on and on. We may be tempted to think that rest is elusive and many may conclude that this is, in fact, the reality of the matter. However, the LORD wants us to continuously enjoy this rest whatever life throws at us. So what is this special rest?
First, I am fully aware that we cannot avoid problems in the world. In fact, the Bible says, “For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.” Job 5: 6-8.
Jesus, when He was comforting His disciples at the time He was preparing for His crucifixion said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
This reveals to us that the source of our rest in the midst of any storm is the confidence that Jesus has overcome the world. The victory is given to us through the cross and resurrection. Rest, therefore, is when an individual is convinced beyond every reasonable doubt that God is with him.
Christ’s kind of rest is not just vacation, taking an extended break, or putting all activities on hold. No! It is submerging the whole of our lives – our will, mind, and emotion into the promises of God. This rest is walking day by day in the promises of God with the unshaken assurance that the LORD is with me.
A lack of God-sized rest causes “an evil heart of unbelief.” The writer of Hebrews attributed the Israelites failure to enter God’s kind of rest to their lack belief. Revealing the devastating result of their attitude in Hebrews 3: 10-12 “That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways. ’So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ “See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.”
So how do we enter into this much-needed rest of God? We are to believe in the existence of the Living God and that He is in control in spite of all we are going through. This removes every form of anxiety. Any situation, however threatening it may be, remember God is with you. Remember He has overcome the world. Remember an end will come to that situation but the power of the LORD will never end.
In conclusion, either you go on vacation or you are at work, you can enjoy this rest of God if you allow your life to be rooted and anchored on the promises of God.