What does “rest” mean to you? Certainly one aspect is to cease from labor, but it has to be more than that. Forcing a six-year-old boy to hold still is not a good example of rest. If the idea behind rest is to be refreshed or restored, then a decrease in activity may be helpful, but it’s not the ultimate solution.
Consider some contrasting verses on the topic. Psalm 46:10 reads, “Be still, and know that I am God,” but overvaluing rest can be sinful. “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man” (Prov. 6:10-11). Again, the psalmist says, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest” (Ps. 55:6), yet 1 Chronicles 16:11 says, “Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His presence continually.” God promises rest to believers while commanding them to “stay awake!”
How then does the believer reconcile God’s assurance of rest with His simultaneous call to action? The answer is that there is an active element to godly rest. Certainly physical rest can be helpful, but according to the Bible, to rest in the Lord is to actively choose to trust Him.
Consider the fact that in the Bible rest is not tied to inactivity, but to safety. Several times in the Old Testament God’s promise of rest is explicitly connected to protection from danger. In Deuteronomy 12:10 it says the Israelites will “live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and when He gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety.” You can’t truly rest when you’re at risk. How restful would your sleep be on a cot in a bear habitat?
Therefore, when God promises rest, in a real way, He is not guaranteeing a decrease in activity, but an increase in safety. The assurance that God gave Moses was “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Ex. 33:14). Moses was required to continue the mission but was promised God’s guidance and protection with it. Another example is Hebrews 4:11, “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest….” The author writes about a future and supremely safe rest to come when Jesus returns, but it’s one after which you must push toward.
The comfort God promises is not more time in a recliner or a shortened to-do list, but an assurance that all the work you are doing for His kingdom is worth it! If you understand this then you can find rest during exhausting trials. If you take this to heart, you’ll exchange your habit of asking God to take things away to asking Him for soul-rest even as He gives you more. With that perspective in view, meditate on the following promise.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Mt. 11:28–30)
Did you catch where the relief would be experienced? “You will find rest for your souls.” This is so much greater than a decrease of work or even of trials! There are millionaires that can lay undisturbed in the cool breeze of a luxury, coral island bungalow whose souls rival the weight of the whale they’re watching. Never long for the world’s version of rest at the expense of what God gives.
Do you have an appreciation for the safety God has provided for you? Are you active in your search for soul-rest or only in deliverance from hardship? The ideal Christian life is not one devoid of labor but one that finds rest in the midst of it. You were created to simultaneously work for the Lord as you enjoy the soul-safety and soul-rest He provides.
In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. (Ps. 4:8)