Rest

As the second part of this three part series I've felt the Lord give me the topic of rest. God has been teaching me and bringing me back to the basics of what rest really is. In the western mindset we view rest as something you do that is relaxing and takes your mind off your 'job,' it lets you focus on yourself and not have to worry about the other stresses in your life. This view point puts a lot of emphasis on the beloved weekend, viewing days off as the prize or goal of your work week. But it always seems we start to do some type of work instead of the rest we had so longed for. I think man was never intended to fully do nothing. Take vacation for example, how many times do you hear the phrase "I need a vacation"? Only to return from the longed for vacation and need another vacation. We take time off to fulfill our western perspective of rest and then we don't rest. We work in the yard on a day off or on vacation we go hiking, etc... I think we need to redesign our view of rest.

On the seventh day of creation God rested, but we know God never stops doing anything, because He holds all things together, Colossians 1:17. Therefore God never fully rests, but He still calls it rest in Genesis. It's time we start to re-define what rest truly is. I believe rest is a state of being and not time to focus on yourself or relax.

How do we get to this state of being is probably the question you are asking right now. There are very few things Jesus gave formulas for in the Bible but one of them was on how to not worry. Matthew 6:33 tells us that if we seek first the kingdom and His righteousness then all of the previously mentioned things in the scripture passage will be added unto us. I take this to mean that if I seek a relationship with the Holy Spirit and I seek to do God’s will and not my own, then I will be at rest in God because I will not have to worry about anything. Many of us hear the phrase, "Be still and know that I am God." But how many of us actually take time to be still before God in our spirit and know that He is God? Knowing He is God is not stating that Jesus is the almighty living God, it means you acknowledge Him as the sovereign ruler of your life, that He has it all under control and that He knows what to do in every circumstance. When you know these things you KNOW that He is God and you have nothing to worry about.

Why is this important? Because if we are not seeking His kingdom and acknowledging Him as God, we will worry about our provision and start to seek out how we can solve our own problems and not what God’s will is for our life. Worrying is also a sin, in Matthew 6:25 Jesus says "do not be worried about your life..." When Jesus tells you not to do something that is a command. When you do the opposite of a command it is disobedience, which is sin. Self-centeredness is also a sin, Jesus never intended for us to be focused on ourselves; we know He is going to provide for us and therefore all of our concern should be for others, being self-centered is literally centering on yourself and our true center should be God and not ourselves. Even self-confidence is a sin, so many people will say they have high self confidence but if we are taking confidence in ourselves instead of God it is a sin because, again, we are looking inward and not toward God.

We need to live in a place of rest and not look at it as a place that is waiting for us at the end of each week. I challenge you to look at your life and see how you can change your perspective on rest so you are living for the kingdom and not for yourself. If you are still and know that He is God you will be able to have complete confidence in God and know that He is going to fully satisfy those needs and completely provide for you. If you would like to chat about this subject or simply have any questions please email me at Cbergus@gmail.com.