REST IN GOD

 

Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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.

Hebrews 4:9-10 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

There is a rest for the people of God, but many haven’t entered this rest. Jesus Christ is asking us to come to His rest and to find rest for our souls. Are we troubled? anxious? or fearful? God is calling us into His rest. Are we encumbered by the concerns of this life? E.g school fees, house rent, bills to pay, a troubled marriage, etc. Jesus is saying do your best and leave the rest to me. Worrying too much about all these things will not make much of a difference, instead, we must live and walk by faith, this is the only condition to entering the rest of the Lord. Knowing without a shadow of a doubt that of a truth God will do all that He says He will do concerning you and me.

Entering God’s rest is not an opportunity to be lazy. it’s a state of mind that you have when you depend completely on God and believe in His word (Hebrews 4:3). When we believe all that God says, we take Him by His word and run with it, we will then find rest for our souls. Do you believe all that God has promised you? If you do, why do you worry so much? Why are you so anxious? Why are you discouraged? Has He said it? will He not do it?

Take this example your daughter is having a ballet competition in a few weeks’ time, and you already made adequate preparations for it, you bought her brand-new ballet costumes and new ballet shoes, but she doesn’t know this, and she is worried about the ballet shoes she will wear for the competition, she wants brand new ones because hers are old, torn and worn out. You have told her so many times not to worry, but she is constantly worried, even crying sometimes because she doesn’t believe you will get her a new pair of ballet shoes, meanwhile, you already got her not only a new pair of ballet shoes but new ballet costumes, much more than she is even expecting. How would you feel? This is how many of us treat God. We don’t believe what He says He will do for us, we are always very anxious, always worrying, always fretting, never feeling good enough about ourselves, meanwhile, God has got us covered in ways we never even imagined.

God rested from all His work on the 7^th day, so rest was already ordained from the foundation of the world, it doesn’t refer to physical rest alone which is very necessary for everyone, but spiritual rest in God forever. Since God is the beginning and the ending, the first and the last, the one who knows the end from the beginning, why not connect with Him and rest completely in Him knowing that your future is secure in Him, knowing that He knows your end and He has promised that you will end well. 

May we cease from our works completely by trying to function by our own wisdom and strength, but completely focus on God, trust in Him, depend on Him, lean on Him, abide in Him and believe He has got us covered, and find complete rest for our souls.