Rest has very little to do with circumstances.

So often I hear different people talk about how supremely busy life is, how hard their days are, and how desperately they need rest. Yes, a cabin in the mountains is fantastic for a break from the monotony of daily life, and physical rest is important. But no external situation will do any more than pacify us for a few days.

Photo credit: Jody Claborn via Flickr

I get it.

I understand physical and mental exhaustion, family demands, and schedules that we can’t control yet still have to follow. There are really hard times that push us to the edges of sanity. Sometimes there are so many moving pieces to life that it feels like if we let one shimmy out of place, or dare to shut our eyes for a minute, the whole machine will malfunction. But anxiously anticipating a specific point of time for rest–the weekend, the end of school, bedtime, weaning the baby, retirement, or that beach vacation–is missing the point. To look for rest in the future is to ignore the grace that is available to you right now.

The writer of Hebrews explains the Sabbath rest available in Jesus and gives the warning, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” Those who ignored His voice in the past were not allowed to rest physically because of their unbelief. They were sentenced to 40 years of wearing themselves out in the wilderness. Generations later, they found themselves bound to striving to maintain rules and regulations, but couldn’t rest. Their stubborn hearts wouldn’t allow them to.

Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.'” Jeremiah 6:16 ESV

Pride is the slickest of sins. When we’re reciting the laundry list of what is on our plate, why we can’t rest, or what we are facing, it seems innocent enough. Sometimes it feels good to declare all the obstacles, to throw that pity party, to be admired for all we’ve taken on, and to put on the martyr’s role. But every time we build up the problems, we turn them into monsters bigger and stronger than the God of grace. Or we might play a different part, that of the good Christian–one who enjoys deep Bible study, has blessed prayer times, and shows up multiple times a week to church, dressed, pressed, and blessed… but weary to the bone. All too often, we prefer striving.

We fail when we are attempting to reach a point of rest based on anything but the “Finished!” that Jesus declared in the last moments on the cross. All the trying in the world will not allow you to get ahead and finally achieve peace.

For Christianity begins not with a big DO, but with a big DONE. Thus Ephesians opens with the statement that God has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (1:3) and we are invited at the very outset to sit down and enjoy what God has done for us; not to set out to try and attain it for ourselves. –Watchman Nee, Sit, Walk Stand.

photo credit: horia varlan via flikr

Matthew 11:29 “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.”

What is a yoke for? It’s for work. Jesus does not espouse inactivity while walking with him, rather he calls us to work. But what is this about rest? He is saying that working with him produces rest for your soul.

This rest is available in the daily flow of routine. In the workplace. In sickness. It is available when we are crawling our way out of trauma. Resting in Him is what drenches our every action with the scent of eternity. We will find our days purposeful, full, and complete when we trust in his grace. We no longer have to be frantic or overwhelmed. With this rest is the confidence that He knows our days, He knows what is on our plates, and He knows what will satisfy our hearts. Because He cares, He will order our days so that we can find that physical rest, too.

This, rather than pacifying us, ought to enliven and energize us to do the good works, because it rests not on us but on Him. And when He works, He produces lasting fruit. The key to the fruit, however, is to remain, to abide, in Him. And from that secure, restful place, we can respond peacefully and practically in faith–for all has been provided–in any circumstance or event or action.

Rest, then, becomes an active, participatory verb. We rest in confidence, putting all the impetus on Him and His completed work, and then our actions do not rely on our abilities but on His sufficiency.