Resting To the Glory of God

"Come to Me, all you 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" (Matthew 11:28-30).

Before mankind ever had to do a single day of work, God had already finished His work of creation and He rested. It was not because He was tired or fatigued in any way but because God set a pattern of rest when the work that He intended to do was complete.

This means that God intended that our work would always be on the other side of His work so that our work doesn't have to feel like work at all. God begins both His creative work and His redemptive work with the rest that comes after His finished work and so that any work that we would do afterward would be a grateful response of making His work known and multiplying the work that He started.

God's work is always good and beneficial for His creation and we are the beneficiaries of both His finished WORK and His spiritual REST.

In Genesis 2, we read, "And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."

Notice how God's rest comes before any work that man would do. There is a perpetual blessing on the day of rest. In fact, the seventh day was the only day of the creation week where it does NOT end with "And the evening and morning were the seventh day". Why is this? Because God always intended for us to know His continual rest...even during and after our work.

Furthermore, we see that the first thing that God reveals is holy is the time set aside for sabbath rest.

There are Three Phases (or Periods) to REST in the Scriptures:

• Phase 1 - God’s Rest after Creation
• Phase 2 - Israel’s Rest from the Law
• Phase 3 - Christ’s Rest in the Church

God always intended for rest to be a part of our lifestyle and daily rhythm. Thus, the sabbath rest was to be an experience of inner peace and an expression of evidential faith and ceasing of works. We are His creation and everything is upheld and sustained by Him and not by us.

Therefore, we are to know that there is a God...that He is good...and that we are not Him.

However, rest does not come natural to any of us. We have all missed the mark of God's glory by sinning and as a result it is far too easy for us to busy ourselves with all the wrong priorities and practices that take us further and further away from God's rest.

When we do not learn how to rest physically, mentally, or spiritually, we will often feel anxious and we will respond to life's challenges in negative ways. When we fail to enter into the true spiritual rest that is available to us in Christ, we are prone to overwork into exhaustion, underwork into laziness, or be overwhelmed by life's pressures or our own expectations. We become disorientated, discontented, and easily deceived...which can lead us to overcompensate in our physical lives and underestimate the tactics of the evil one.

 Therefore, we need to cultivate true rest as David did in his Psalm 23,

Here are 9 descriptions of REST found in Psalm 23:

• Not wanting
• Laying in green pastures
• Sitting beside still waters
• Having your soul restored
• Knowing God’s presence
• Being comforted from above
• Receiving fresh anointing
• Experiencing goodness and mercy
• Dwelling in the Lord’s house

In short, all of the rest that our souls are looking for is found in the presence and provision of our our perfect Shepherd, Jesus Christ. To have Jesus is to have everything that satisfies and to no longer be found wanting or needing anything.

When it comes to the Sabbath, there is the DAY of rest...then there is the WAY of rest...and finally there is the STAY of rest.

Jesus says, "Come to Me and I will give you REST." Learning of His way of living and loving and leaving this world leads to a life of true spiritual rest for our souls. For His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

There are many things that can begin to weigh heavy on us in this life. We often carry our own burdens without releasing them to God and then we sometimes find ourselves carrying the burdens of others as well.

Just as man was given the heavenly assignment to "tend and keep the garden," we must all tend and keep our hearts with all diligence knowing that out of our hearts spring the issues of life (Prov. 4:23). The living water that Jesus gives is able to bring CONTINUAL REST to our souls.

"There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience" (Heb. 4:9-11).

Let us learn to find our ongoing rest in the Lord. Let us not be so hurried to follow the rhythms of the world but to learn the rhythm of heaven. Let us walk in the steps that the Lord has ordered for us and take times to get refreshed and to seek the presence of the Lord.

May we follow the pattern of Jesus who intentionally removed Himself from the multitudes at times to get alone with the Father. May we learn the principle of a day of rest each week and the way of rest each day as we sit at the feet of Jesus and acknowledge Him in all of our ways.

Only with a restful soul can we truly rest to the glory of God and say what David says in Psalm 16:9: "Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.

Here are some KEY QUESTIONS to work through and pray through this week:

1. What does a day of REST look like for you?

2. Do you SET TIME ASIDE each day to rest in the presence of God?

3. How does CHRIST’S REST impact the way you live, work, and treat others during the week?