TRUE REST

How important is rest? If you are like me, you find it difficult to put things down and truly give your mind, body, and soul the rest they need. Full disclosure: I don’t surf often, but hearing my husband’s stories after a week-long surf and serve, I find that the most common theme is “I need to rest.” I can absolutely understand how necessary this is, considering how exhausting it is for me just to paddle out in small Florida waves.

For me personally, one season of life is coming to a close while another exciting season is about to take off. The Lord has graciously provided a time for me to rest from one season, which I truly believe is meant to equip and replenish me before the next season of life starts.

As I’ve started studying scripture about rest, I’ve found that as ironic as it sounds, to accomplish rest, it actually takes action to do so. In Matthew 11:28 it says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” It takes the physical action of putting something down and coming to the Lord to rest with Him. On the other hand, we also trust that God is going to take care of things while we rest. Hebrews 4:10 says, “For anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from His.” It’s comforting to know that the God we serve points out that He himself rested from his own works. He has called us to operate out of a place of rest, not to live in exhaustion, hoping for rest at some point. It’s simply a matter of whether we take the blessing of rest or continue relying on our own strength and ability.

Image by Malia Abrahamian