It seems to me a very strange thing sleep… For some twelve hours we have set aside a time for it, and all of humanity agrees that it is necessary; one of the few things sinful humans can agree on at all is that we all need sleep. Some need it more than others, some think they don’t need it but do, and some should have it, but are for various reasons deprived.
Just as I am on this night in May.
First let me be clear, I am not speaking of sleep in this discourse. I am speaking of the true need that all humanity shares, the need for rest.
We live our lives out in such a hurry, and many will never stop and wonder at the beauty and sanctity of God’s creation, they never slow down and recall for whom, and by whom they were made. But God gives us this command in Psalm 46, a very good Psalm that assures us that God is our fortress and strength, and “a very present help in trouble.” (verse 1), the command is to “be still”.
Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth!”
The literal translation for the words “be still” is: cease striving.
Isn’t that interesting? God knows us, He knows that we move through life without stopping to remember or reflect, and this is our folly. So He commands us through the Psalmist to “cease striving” and know that He is God.
So let’s slow down our busy lives for a moment and reflect on the God who gives us rest.
Rest is something we all need. And to be restless, means that something is hindering our rest. Rest, as I believe it, is one of the attributes God shared with us when He so graciously created us to show forth His glory.
Genesis 2:2-3 “And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”
Let me clear this up before we go further. I reiterate, this isn’t a discussion about sleep. God does not sleep, (Psalm 121) He does not need to. Rest is different from sleep, and I will show you how in due course.
Rest is the ability to slow down all functions and repose, it is the ability to reflect on past actions and future plans, and it is a time of dear reunion with the God who made us, if we rest and reflect on His Word, as is proper and commanded in Scripture (Psalm 1 is one example of many).
For just one time in all of history God rested, He looked upon His creation and called it good. He is outside of time, so He could already see what was to happen, and the way He would send His son to save sinners, and so, for the only time in recorded history, God rested, and reflected on all He had made, delighted in it, and cast His love upon it, and upon us.
In this way, I believe we are blessed with the same ability. Though we ourselves are limited by mortal minds and sinful hearts, by God’s grace and Christ’s blood, and the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying us constantly, we also can find rest. We can reflect on the past, our sin and how we were once enemies of God. And we can then reflect on how Christ saved us, if indeed we are saved by His grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8), and we can also look ahead to the future, in a limited, and dependent way.
But while we are on this earth, there are many things that will hinder us from this most blessed rest. And our Savior, Christ Jesus, being our Great High Priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15), he also experienced this in His time on earth as He prepared to make the sacrifice for our sins.
Mark 6:31 “And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.”
During Jesus’ ministry, and in this passage, is recorded His feeding of five-thousand men and many more women and children. He provides for them what they needed, but being unable to see past the physical, they thought only of the food he gave them, and the brief respite.
But what Jesus was trying to tell them is that they needed Him. He alone could provide what they really needed, He alone could feed their hungry souls, or give them rest. He goes so far as to say this, and take comfort in this truth Christian and Unbeliever alike, for your needs are met in Christ!
Matthew 11:28-30 “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.’”
Christ has promised those who come to Him, true rest, rest apart from the power of sin, which, more than perhaps anything else, hinders our ability to rest. For sin will fog our reflections and draw us away from the source of our rest, which is only ever God. But thanks be to God! We are freed from the power of sin by the blood of His Son (John 8:36)!
So then, if we truly want rest, if weariness from living in this fast moving, sin-stained, painful world has us worn, I pray that you will take time each morning to find your rest in Christ. For you have only a little longer here, and that is the final rest I shall speak of. But first I want to share a few more observations with you my friends.
Rest is not something we can do if we do not trust in our safety, the safety of our homes, the safety of our beds. But truly, we live in a sinful world, a dangerous and fearful world. And if you have trouble sleeping at night because you fear, or because of worry, then I have two things to say to you:
First, fear is sin, for it is certainly not trusting in God.
Psalm 4:8 “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”
If you are trusting in anything, or anyone other than God, your safety is not guaranteed. But for those who trust in God, even Death holds no more fear. So trust in God, He alone will make you dwell in safety.
Secondly, worry is also sin, for it again is a mistrusting of God. But I say this to you:
Matthew 6:25-27 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”
God is your Heavenly Father, He knows better than you what you need. And so, do not worry. And if you doubt the truth of this passage I will tell you, these blessed words were said by the very Jesus who calls us to find our rest in Him!
And finally, we come to the rest every Christian longs for. The final rest in Christ when we meet Him face to face, whether carried in Death’s arms (for that is the only power he has left), or when Jesus returns to brings His Beloved to Himself for all eternity.
The Author of Hebrews speaks briefly of this rest.
Hebrews 4:9-11 “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.”
We must strive to obtain it. This seems a departure from what I’ve been talking about resting. But I tell you, these things are not mutually exclusive in God’s Kingdom, for He is not bound by anything. We can both strive and rest in our pursuit of Him, and indeed, that is how it is meant to be.
At one point striving to achieve the goal, which is to know Christ (Philippians 3:14-15)
And at the same time finding the rest for our souls in Him (Psalm 23)
I implore you all, my dear friends: If you have not at once found this rest, I bid you read Isaiah 55, for there is still time for you to heed God’s call. And if you have found this rest, but perhaps have forgotten it, or God seems far away. Come back and find rest for your weary souls.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Finding my Rest in Him,
--The Scribe
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