The Rest is History
The Rest is History
How do you rest in a society that’s constantly on the go, go, go?
Well… The first step is to be like Jesus. Easy, right? Not so fast… there’s many things that Jesus said and did in the gospels, but one thing you’ll never see or read - He never ran. Everywhere He went, He never ran. Even when He was walking on water, He didn’t run. So the first step in rest is to not run. To not rush. That’s what makes us tired - or as the Bible calls it in Galatians 6, “weary in well doing.”
We get weary when we hurry. We get weary when we’re rushing. We get weary when we’re in haste. Jesus never walked in any of these ways… yet He was always on time. Divine appointments don’t happen like doctor’s appointments. The time isn’t set by a clock or the sun.
It’s interesting to me that His divine appointments were predicated on His divine timing, which was based on the speed in which He walked and rested.
Something else Jesus didn’t do a lot of in His ministry was sleep. Rest in’t always synonymous with sleep. It’s possible to be tired and well rested. It’s possible to be tired in the flesh and fully rested and restored in the spirit. Oftentimes, Jesus would forgo sleep in order to go off and pray - to be energized and rested in spirit by the Spirit.
Rest isn’t doing less, it’s doing more of what gives you energy - what restores the soul. Rest brings about restoration. You can’t spell restoration without rest. You can’t bring restoration to the soul without rest. After all, restoration is to bring something back to its original and intended state and function.
This is why King David penned in Psalm 23 “the Lord is my Shepherd… who restores my soul” (vs. 1,3). The original and intended state and function of the soul was not to stay in a hurried, rushed, hasted, busied life. That’s not a recipe for a life more abundant, that’s a recipe for a life more absent.
Just like we all work in different ways, we all rest in different ways too. Different things fill us up and restore our souls. And that’s okay. God never said we had to all rest in the same way, He said we all had to rest - and remember the sabbath day.
If working is producing, then resting can be not producing. Or it can be not producing in the same manner that drains you - i.e. work. If going to the gym gives you energy and restores your soul, then by all means. But if you work at the gym and fishing gives you that restoration, then by all means. Both require a level of “work,” but not in the same vocation.
The whole purpose of rest and restoration is to get back what was stolen or expended. If we’re living out our Christian faith the same way Jesus did then we should expect a high level of expending. But that expense doesn’t have to be expensive on our souls if we rest when we need it. While you may or may not be able to sleep anywhere, you can rest anywhere.
In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus gives us this exchange. He extends the opportunity to trade Him what we have for what He has. To trade our lack for His abundance. If we are tired and toiling and overburdened from work, then we are to come to Him. Bringing our heaviness, whether physical or psychological. This is where He promises us rest. This rest is a break or a pause from labor or work after a task has been completed. If we’re burdened down with any kind of heaviness we can experience relief when we lay it as the foot of the cross. The cross is the final place where anything should be hung, for it is there that the work has already been done.
Jesus also promises that we will receive rest for our souls when we take His yoke upon ourselves. A yoke is a wooden beam used to fasten two beasts of burden together so that they can work as a team. Jesus is essentially asking us to team up with Him to accomplish the work that needs to be done. And to learn from Him. But not in a book learning style - a lifestyle that can only be caught by experience - not taught in a classroom.
If rest is not essential, burnout becomes inevitable.
The God of the universe begins His story with a day of rest after 6 days of work. Rest is a command; otherwise burnout is a consequence. Rest was put in His story, not for Himself (God lacks nothing so He needs no rest), but for us. For our good. For the good of our souls.
This is why Paul gives us this command in Galatians 6:9, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (ESV) It’s a command, but it’s also an invitation. Don’t allow yourself to stay there in weariness. Jesus said to give your weariness to Him. Exchange it for rest. The charge to not become weary is necessary because of the challenge that we will get weary. It’s not such a problem to be challenged with weariness; it’s a problem to stay there or to allow it to render us ineffective for the kingdom of God.
Lay down your problems. Pick up His peace. Take your rest, and leave Jesus with the rest.
How do you rest in a society that’s constantly on the go, go, go?
Well… The first step is to be like Jesus. Easy, right? Not so fast… there’s many things that Jesus said and did in the gospels, but one thing you’ll never see or read - He never ran. Everywhere He went, He never ran. Even when He was walking on water, He didn’t run. So the first step in rest is to not run. To not rush. That’s what makes us tired - or as the Bible calls it in Galatians 6, “weary in well doing.”
We get weary when we hurry. We get weary when we’re rushing. We get weary when we’re in haste. Jesus never walked in any of these ways… yet He was always on time. Divine appointments don’t happen like doctor’s appointments. The time isn’t set by a clock or the sun.
It’s interesting to me that His divine appointments were predicated on His divine timing, which was based on the speed in which He walked and rested.
Something else Jesus didn’t do a lot of in His ministry was sleep. Rest in’t always synonymous with sleep. It’s possible to be tired and well rested. It’s possible to be tired in the flesh and fully rested and restored in the spirit. Oftentimes, Jesus would forgo sleep in order to go off and pray - to be energized and rested in spirit by the Spirit.
Rest isn’t doing less, it’s doing more of what gives you energy - what restores the soul. Rest brings about restoration. You can’t spell restoration without rest. You can’t bring restoration to the soul without rest. After all, restoration is to bring something back to its original and intended state and function.
This is why King David penned in Psalm 23 “the Lord is my Shepherd… who restores my soul” (vs. 1,3). The original and intended state and function of the soul was not to stay in a hurried, rushed, hasted, busied life. That’s not a recipe for a life more abundant, that’s a recipe for a life more absent.
Just like we all work in different ways, we all rest in different ways too. Different things fill us up and restore our souls. And that’s okay. God never said we had to all rest in the same way, He said we all had to rest - and remember the sabbath day.
If working is producing, then resting can be not producing. Or it can be not producing in the same manner that drains you - i.e. work. If going to the gym gives you energy and restores your soul, then by all means. But if you work at the gym and fishing gives you that restoration, then by all means. Both require a level of “work,” but not in the same vocation.
The whole purpose of rest and restoration is to get back what was stolen or expended. If we’re living out our Christian faith the same way Jesus did then we should expect a high level of expending. But that expense doesn’t have to be expensive on our souls if we rest when we need it. While you may or may not be able to sleep anywhere, you can rest anywhere.
In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus gives us this exchange. He extends the opportunity to trade Him what we have for what He has. To trade our lack for His abundance. If we are tired and toiling and overburdened from work, then we are to come to Him. Bringing our heaviness, whether physical or psychological. This is where He promises us rest. This rest is a break or a pause from labor or work after a task has been completed. If we’re burdened down with any kind of heaviness we can experience relief when we lay it as the foot of the cross. The cross is the final place where anything should be hung, for it is there that the work has already been done.
Jesus also promises that we will receive rest for our souls when we take His yoke upon ourselves. A yoke is a wooden beam used to fasten two beasts of burden together so that they can work as a team. Jesus is essentially asking us to team up with Him to accomplish the work that needs to be done. And to learn from Him. But not in a book learning style - a lifestyle that can only be caught by experience - not taught in a classroom.
If rest is not essential, burnout becomes inevitable.
The God of the universe begins His story with a day of rest after 6 days of work. Rest is a command; otherwise burnout is a consequence. Rest was put in His story, not for Himself (God lacks nothing so He needs no rest), but for us. For our good. For the good of our souls.
This is why Paul gives us this command in Galatians 6:9, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (ESV) It’s a command, but it’s also an invitation. Don’t allow yourself to stay there in weariness. Jesus said to give your weariness to Him. Exchange it for rest. The charge to not become weary is necessary because of the challenge that we will get weary. It’s not such a problem to be challenged with weariness; it’s a problem to stay there or to allow it to render us ineffective for the kingdom of God.
Lay down your problems. Pick up His peace. Take your rest, and leave Jesus with the rest.
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