Learning to rest in God

Learning to rest in God has been the most difficult truth that I have ever learned to embrace. Yet there is a strict command to “strive/make every effort to enter into His rest.” Hebrews 4:11

What exactly is rest?

Rest is actively living in faith. It is believing what God says. It is abiding in Christ. And it is learning to believe the living God, despite the circumstances that are swirling around. 

In fact, I would go so far as to say that resting will be our key weapon going forward towards Jesus’ return.

Heart-check

Test yourself in this: can you be still before the Lord right now, on the inside, for 90 seconds?  Is it a struggle for you? If it is, you are not alone. We live in a go-go, busy-busy culture that includes the Church.

We must train ourselves to believe God, His word, and the still small voice of the Holy Spirit.  In fact, if you cannot still yourself before the Lord and hear His voice or quietly recall the last thing He spoke to you, that could be a signal that your heart is agitated and not at rest.

The Lord’s call to rest

We were saved not only from sin, but from fear, worry, and anxiety. We are called to rest, to

“be still and know I am God”

“look to Him and become radiant”

“delight yourself in the Lord”

“wait on the Lord”

“gaze on the beauty of the Lord”

“drink from the river of delight”

Those passages are in the Old Testament. The New Testament has many more surpassing glories to partake in!

The other side

I believe so much of the dis-ease that we suffer from comes because we have an agenda outside the grace of God, and thus cannot enter into a place of resting faith in God.

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it…you ask God… with the wrong motives… James 4:1-3 [abbreviated]

Practice entering His rest

Living in God’s rest looks like peace, patience, graciousness, forgiveness and generosity toward others. This has been difficult to embrace, but is so necessary.

If we can practice ‘entering His rest’ we will be trusting God with our present circumstances. Do you have relationship issues? What does Jesus teach about it? Maybe you need to let go and put others in God’s hands. Do you want something but are not getting it? Try patience, and humility (James 4:6b).  

Choose, today, to rest

So we have a choice. Are you in anxiety about the election, the war in Israel, the border, your parents, your children, your best friend that just betrayed you? Maybe your heart is broken because of rejection or abandonment…..

Turn your eyes from the information squawkers and crazy-seeming circumstances, and look directly at Jesus.  Yes, look at Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. He is the living God and longing for you to trust Him, to rely on Him, to rest in Him. If you have God’s Spirit within, then you are God’s child, and by His Spirit you cry out Abba, Father, and He will answer.

No self-help cliches here!

This is not a self-help cliche. We need to practice this resting now. Hebrews 4:7a says God again set a certain day calling it ‘today.’ What is “today,” anyway? Simple. It is today! Today is the only day we will ever have. Yes, we should plan ahead. Yet the truth is we cannot put off rest in God until tomorrow. And it does not matter if we have not rested in God for the last 20 years. We only have today. Today is all we have. You can’t do this tomorrow, because when tomorrow comes it will be today.

Rest and the end-times

The Great Tribulation Psalm, Psalm 91, is considered by many to be a prophecy of overcoming during great tribulation. Prayerfully study Psalm 91, and enter into the rest of our God!

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.” Psalm 91:1-2

Let me close with this.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4