We are all busy. Probably too busy. No, not probably too busy, definitely too busy. Being busy isn’t a bad thing, but being busy without adequate rest is a bad thing. In our world today, especially in the United States, we wear our tiredness like a badge of honor. We boast and brag about our long days and longer weeks. We like to demonstrate our holiness and effectiveness in ministry by how busy we are. We have a stigma surrounding rest or vacation. Sometimes our churches or ministries do a poor job of adequately providing opportunities for us to rest (but that is a topic for another day).
I’ll be the first to admit that I do not always do a good job of rest or time away. Actually, my wife would be the first to admit that. But here are some principles of rest that I have been trying to gain a better understanding of over the past several years.
First, rest is not laziness. Many times when we think about rest, we get the picture of someone who is lazy. We think of verses like Proverbs 6:10-11: “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest, and your poverty will come like a robber, your need, like a bandit”, and we worry that people will think we are lazy or that we will become lazy. We need to think of Jesus’ call to come to Him and rest in Matthew 11:28-30. He said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” He is teaching us that rest is Kingdom work. He said “take My yoke” which implies that there is work to be done in conjunction with Him. But rest is also learning. He also said, “learn from Me.” Just like Mary and Martha, many times we need to stop doing and start sitting, resting, listening and learning.
Secondly, rest is God-ordained. Rest is built into our week, and it was demonstrated and commanded by God in creation. Through His example and later through the Law, God built rest right into all that we do. “Remember the Sabbath day…” (Exodus 20:8) and “He rested from all His work of creation” (Genesis 2:3) are both examples and commands of how God wants us to rest.
Thirdly, rest is beneficial. 1 Kings 18 is one of my favorite Old Testament stories of God’s power through His man. Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal and Asherah on Mount Carmel, which was an incredible spiritual high for him. But in the next chapter, Jezebel said she was going to kill Elijah, and it sent him into a tailspin. He despairingly told God that he just wanted to die. What happened next is incredibly important: he slept and ate. Twice. Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is take a nap and eat a meal. If we are overly tired or overly hungry, we will not operate the way God wants us to.
Fourth, rest acknowledges God’s sovereignty. Do we believe that God can handle anything and everything? Then we have to stop being a control freak. Psalm 121:1-4 says, “I lift my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber. Indeed, the Protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep.” This is a great reminder that we can sleep because God won’t! True reliance upon God recognizes His absolute sovereignty and our absolute helplessness and weakness. I ran across this John Piper quote that smacked me in the face:
Sleep is a parable that God is God and we are mere men. God handles the world quite nicely while a hemisphere sleeps. Sleep is like a broken record that comes around with the same message every day: Man is not sovereign. Man is not sovereign. Man is not sovereign. Don’t let the lesson be lost on you. God wants to be trusted as the great worker who never tires and never sleeps. He is not nearly so impressed with our late nights and early mornings as he is with the peaceful trust that casts all anxieties on him and sleeps.
If we believe that God has everything under control, we need to trust Him and rest in Him.
Fifthly, rest is required for worship. God built rest into the life and worship of Israel. Right off, He put 52 Sabbaths into the year for rest. There were also the 3 pilgrim feasts:
- Passover/Unleavened Bread for a total of 8 days.
- Weeks/Pentecost which was 1 day.
- Tabernacles/Booths which was 7 days.
That is a total of 64 days or nine weeks of rest and worship! PLUS the travel time to and from Jerusalem. PLUS the Sabbath year every 7 years. PLUS the year of Jubilee every 50 years. These were times of spiritual renewal and spiritual recharging as well as physical rest. I am not advocating that we all need 9 weeks+ of vacation every year, but I am saying that when we are tired and worn out, we do not worship well. Our daily time with the Lord suffers. Our teaching and preaching suffers. Our worship through song and prayer suffers. If we are to worship well, we need to rest well.
Lastly, rest is a major part of the promise of eternal life. Isaiah 65 paints a picture of a future time of rest and peace and communion with God. Part of our future hope is peace and rest from the troubles of this world. The rest from the troubles and pressures of this world is something to which we can look forward.
So what do we do now? We need to stop wearing our busyness and exhaustion like a badge of honor. We need to create margin in our live for rest and worship. We need to create downtime in our lives. Ultimately, we must be able and willing to create space in our lives to rest in God, trust in God, and wait on God. We don’t rest because we think more highly of ourselves than we ought to and we don’t actually trust God. Clay Scroggins, in How to Lead in a World of Distraction wrote this:
But here’s the secret of the Sabbath: rest can be found, not at the end of a to-do list, but in the midst of everything you do. True rest isn’t waiting for you just beyond the next deadline – it’s not something on the distant and ever-elusive horizon. Rest is right where you are. If you can acknowledge that there is something bigger than you, then resting in what you do is possible. Followers of God recognize they are small and inconsequential in his grand scheme. And this knowledge frees them up to rest – and to work diligently and faithfully, of course – while believing God is still accomplishing his plan and his will.
God can and will accomplish His plan and will just fine without our restless worry.
So ask yourself these questions: Am I resting in God? Am I truly able to worship because I am resting in Him? Do I regularly experience spiritual renewal because I am resting in God? Do I allow for times of sitting and reflecting upon God and His Word? Do I truly trust God?
And then go and rest, trust fully in God and worship Him in stillness and quietness. Be busy for the Lord, but also rest in Him.
“But those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31
Brad Smith serves as lead pastor for Spring Valley Baptist Church, Springville.
All Scripture references are to The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
