Rest in Jesus

Hello again readers! August was quite the month. A lot happened; much of it was great. For example, God presented the opportunity for me to attend my second writers’ conference, called North Georgia Christian Writers Conference. Then, there were moments in August that were not so great. Expect to read more on those not-so-great moments in the next series that God put on my heart to do, which is on the horizon. For this post, to sum up the month of August in two words it would be busy and rest.

You may be thinking how can busy and rest go together? Well, there is a difference between being busy doing things that are not fulfilling and busy doing things that are. An area that most would say we are busy devoting time to week in and week out is our jobs. It is safe to say that some of us spend thirty, forty, or fifty hours of our week in jobs that are not fulfilling. Even so, we stay at our jobs for various reasons. One reason we stay may be that it pays the bills; another reason may be that it gives us the opportunity to do things that do fulfill us; another reason may be that we fear the unknown if we do walk away and pursue a fulfilling career. In contrast, when we do have fulfilling jobs, we spend all those hours enjoying the work we do.

Regardless of whether we are in jobs that bring us fulfillment or jobs that help us do what fulfills us, it is still vital that we take time to rest. Rest is a word that kept coming to my mind throughout August in the midst of busyness. There were moments where I felt overwhelmed by all the things that God was asking me to do for the remaining months of 2019 (new levels in leadership, finishing my book, and blogging twice per month to name a few). Yet, in those overwhelmed feelings, I needed to keep reminding myself that since God was asking me to do these things, He will equip me to do it. Hebrews 13:20-21 says it this way,

²⁰Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, ²¹equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Because of what God was asking there were many days spent in August praying and asking for discernment on what needed to change in my day-to-day routine. Whenever we ask God to show us what needs to be changed, He will answer; nevertheless, His answer will be something that we will not be comfortable with giving up. How He answers will look different for each person. For me, there was a realization that with these God-given opportunities, the hours I work was one of the areas that needed to change.

As with anything, we have the choice to make a change or not. In my case, continue with the current hours or adjust. I cannot say that it was easy to choose to adjust my hours—there have been moments where I want to go back to my usual hours. In those moments, I remind myself that this is so that I can better serve the Kingdom, and I can rest knowing that God will provide. For you, God may not be asking you to decrease your hours at work. Perhaps, He is asking you to spend less time watching TV or less time on social media in favor of spending more time with Him.

Resting in God’s provision is not the only way that God has pointed out to me that I as well as all of us need to rest. Genesis 2:2-3 says,

²By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. ³Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Allow me to be the first to admit that I struggled with taking a day each week to rest—this summer in particular. Part of me thought it was a good thing to have something going on every day each week. I thought I “arrived” when I could say that I am busy. Despite the mindset of culture that we need to always be moving and doing something to keep busy, God led by example that we need to stop and REST ONE DAY EVERY WEEK. Why? Well, if done right, it can rejuvenate us and make the five or six days that we do work far more productive than if we worked seven days straight.

What does it look like to take a day to rest? It will look different for everyone. However, there should be one constant on the day we rest as well as the other six days of the week: time spent with just you and God. Why should we spend time with God daily? Think about our lives and how there are unexpected things that come up at work and in life that throw us for a loop. Think about how we surrender an area of our life to God, or we tell God we will wait on Him for our desires. Then, the next hour, the next day, or the next week, something triggers us wanting to take back control of what we surrendered, or something triggers us wanting now to be time for that desire to be fulfilled.

Those triggers can happen due to our flesh, and they can be the enemy using a prime opportunity to slither his way in with lies about our wait or about us never being free of that thing. Day after day, the enemy tries to get us to swerve off the path God has us on. Since the enemy is coming at us daily, we should be defeating him daily. This is why it is important to have daily time with God, for it keeps Him at the center of our lives. We can rest in the truth of what God says about us and not what the enemy wants us to believe. We can rest in His promises when the enemy wants us to be afraid of what is next. When we are overwhelmed with life and even overwhelmed with what God is asking of us, we can rest in knowing we can run to Him and He will sustain us. So, what exactly does it feel like to experience rest in Him? Jesus says,

²⁸Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).

At whatever time of the day, we can (morning, afternoon or evening) spend time in His Word, in worship, and in prayer. When we do, we can expect to experience a rest unlike any other.

All Bible verses are from Holy Bible: New International Version