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Our concept of rest is varied and broad. Is it sleep or a long midday nap? Is it stopping work or exercise, taking a break from our normal exertions of life? Or is it ultimate, a resting from all the strivings, turmoil, and cycles of this life?
Rest gives us a chance to think and take to heart things that too often spin around in our minds.
Surely we can all agree that rest is desirable and necessary. Rest is necessary for any living being in this creation because we were not made to do constant work. Our bodies simply cannot go on forever. Rest is also desirable since it gives us a chance to recharge and to enjoy the fruits of our work. Rest gives us a chance to think and take to heart things that too often spin around in our minds like small, unsettling storms. Rest is peaceful. It is, as the prophet Isaiah wrote, "peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places" (Isa. 32:18).
The question is, from where does this peacefulness come and is it possible to even get there when there is so much trouble all around us? In the Netflix series Maid, Sharon Van Etten's "Every Time the Sun Comes Up I'm in Trouble" hauntingly plays in the background as the main character Alex faces yet again another setback, another obstacle, another challenge, another tragedy. Every day brings trouble and there seems to be no rest. No doubt we can all identify with Alex, not necessarily to the same extent, but it is a rare person who has not had days of turmoil—days when we cry out for respite and a break from our troubles.
Only God can give us true rest that is everlasting, safe, and secure.
Isaiah gives us hope. The pouring out of God's spirit will bring the restful peace we all long for (Isa. 32:15) as a result of righteousness (Isa. 32:17). And its effect? Calm and confidence, peaceful homes and places of rest (Isa. 32:17-18). The righteousness will come by means of the only perfectly righteous person to walk the earth, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, the Messiah who suffered and died on behalf of God's people, completing his work on earth.
Jesus' resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven leads to the pouring out of his Spirit to all who are united to Christ Jesus by faith. This pouring out brings rest—rest from our own weak and failing works as we try to save ourselves. It brings rest from the enmity and division between God and humanity and between one another, reconciling us to God and to each other with the love of God given so that we may love others. This is true rest. It is an everlasting rest that is safe and secure and untroubled as we look forward to our peaceful heavenly home, securely dwelling in righteousness with God forever.
This article is adapted from “The Source of True Rest” in BCL’s March 2022 monthly newsletter “Rest.”
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