Have you ever heard the phrase, “I’ll rest when I’m dead”? Just reading that I felt my shoulders tense up with a sensation of anxious overwhelm. Why? Because my body (specifically my tense shoulders) holds memories of striving for constant forward progression. Admittedly, too often I find myself lying awake at night thinking of the things on my to-do list, remembering things that need to be added to the list, and hoping to drift to sleep quickly so that I get enough sleep to have enough energy to get it all done. So I lie there trying to rest, but end up restless.
Restlessness is an inability to remain or achieve rest in the mind, the heart, or the physical body. There are many restless people today as we search for satisfaction through a sense of personal accomplishment in the workplace, family life, or even recreation. While all of these are good things, the relationship with them will never ultimately satisfy. Their invitation is relentless leading to a cruel pace that depletes the soul. God has always had a better invitation, one that leads the soul to a place of renewal. Due to God’s good design of humanity’s gift of free will, we are given the dignity to choose to accept the invitation to rest.
Hebrews 4:9-11 speaks of it. “There remains, then a Sabbath rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest”…The next part is key…“So that no one will perish.”
God has always invited us to find rest in Him. To trust that he will meet our deepest needs, care for, protect, guide, and lead us to life. Jesus reminds us again when he says “Come to me, all who are weary and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). The list of things that God has for us starts with being with him so that he might give you rest. The cure for restlessness is being with Jesus.
Take a moment and think about the current state of your soul.
Do you hear God’s invitation to rest?
What’s getting in the way of your acceptance of that invitation?
How might you change your pace to enter the rest you were designed for?
Jessica Klootwyk
Groups & Women’s Discipleship Director