Christian Living
Rest can mean to relax; that is cessation of work in order to refresh or recover strength, it can also mean to lie against something (being supported in a specific position), and rest can denote dormancy (that is being quiescent). As used in this write-up, rest means relief from troubles, weariness, anxiety, disturbances, a state of peace, calmness and tranquility. Considering current global occurrences of economic downturns, social disturbances, insecurity, emerging and re-emerging health issues, etc it is almost impossible or at least unrealistic to imagine being in a state such as this, doesn’t it? Yet Hebrews 4:1 speaks of a promise of The Rest Place for God’s children…
“And we still have the promise that God gave those people. That promise is that we can enter his place of rest. So we should be very careful that none of you fails to get that promise.”
Hebrews 4:1 ERV
This scripture speaks of a promise made by God to the Israelites, which according to the writer the Israelites did not experience. However this same promise can be inherited and experienced today by believers in Christ Jesus. Christians can enjoy a Rest Place in God!
Why Didn’t the Israelites enter The Rest Place of God?
From Hebrews 3:18-19 (ERV), disobedience, rebellion and unbelief were the reasons the Israelites did not enter the rest place of God, which for them was figuratively the promised land, So for 40 years those of them that wallowed in unbelief, rebellion and disobedience, didn’t just wander the wilderness, they grumbled, suffered and eventually died in the wilderness.
They heard about the promised land, its beauties and goodness were communicated to them, but they just could not fathom how possible it was to have anything better than what they had in Egypt as salves. They struggled to believe the picture of freedom and abundance that Moses, Joshua and Caleb tried to paint for them. As far as their natural minds could see, Egypt was better than their current place in the desert. True that they were in slavery and bondage in Egypt but at least their hardwork and labor met their needs. They had some level of control and predictability than what their wilderness experience had been. To them, Egypt was a reality, Canaan was a fantasy.
Are you living in the Rest Place of God?
Even for us today, sometimes the good news is just too good to be true, the promises of God may sometimes seem far-fetched.
Those Israelites heard the Word of the Lord but it sounded too good to be true, so they refused to entrust their lives and future to it. They chose to ‘take their destinies in their own hands’. They were analyzing data, drawing parallels, when they should have been mixing the Word they heard with faith. Tthey neither believed nor proclaimed the promise.
“For indeed we have had the glad tidings [Gospel of God] proclaimed to us just as truly as they [the Israelites of old did when the good news of deliverance from bondage came to them]; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith (with the leaning of the entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness) by those who heard it; neither were they united in faith with the ones [Joshua and Caleb] who heard (did believe).’ Hebrews 4:2 AMPC.
And because they refused to mix God’s Word with faith, the Word was not profitable or beneficial to them. So it seemed that their prayers were not answered, it appeared God never heard their outcry. The resultant effect of this was that they were always anxious, worried, agitated, panicky. They were never at rest. They did not enter God’s place of rest.
Are you at rest? Have you entered the rest place of God? Are you speaking the Word or rehearsing and grumbling over life’s challenges (exchange rate, insecurity, etc)? For the Israelites the place of rest may have somewhat meant a physical location but for us it is a spiritual state of faith and trust.
Choose to Enter The Rest Place of God
What are you doing about the different pressures life tries to throw at you? Do not let them overcome and depress you. Appropriate and rightfully apply the Word to each situation. Pray, confess and believe the Word instead of the current/prevailing circumstances. And after applying the Word to that situation, trust in the efficacy of the Word, then you’ll be at rest.
In the Rest Place of God, the Word of God is mixed with faith. The Rest place of God is a place of knowing, believing and speaking what the Word says irrespective of the circumstances. It is a place of being fully persuaded; of confidence and peace. It is a place of faith and trust. It is a spiritual state that translates into a physical experience.
In the Rest place of God, there is no anxiety, worry or panic, because faith in the Word reigns supreme and the Word always prevails because the Word of God is not dead but Alive, the Word is not weak but Powerful and the Word is not blunt/ineffective but sharp/effective.
You can become free from the weariness and pains of human labor, mix the Word with faith, Trust in the same and Rest.
”For he who has once entered [God’s] rest also has ceased from [the weariness and pain] of human labors, just as God rested from those labors peculiarly His own” Hebrews 4:10 AMPC.
Shalom!
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