Rest p.1

Rest. A number of years ago, the Lord began teaching me about the importance of resting in Him and in the life of every believer. In fact, the Scriptures tell us that rest is one of the fruits of walking in faith.  

We know that faith is essential to walking as a believer—we must believe and, consequently, enter His rest.

Hebrews 4:3a For we who have believed do enter that rest.

There remains a rest for the people of God. Let us, therefore, be diligent to enter that rest.

Hebrews 4:9-11  9 There remains, therefore, a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. 11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

Resting can often be one of the most difficult spiritual principles to learn to practice. Often, in the midst of a faith struggle, we may hear His comforting voice say to us, “Relax, lay aside the struggle, and rest in Me.”

Then, we must take a deep breath and allow ourselves to quiet down on the inside because faith is unable to operate whenever there is unrest on the inside.

Real rest is unnatural to the flesh, but it is first nature to the Spirit. Romans 15:13 says that there is joy and peace in believing, peace being a preceding factor to rest. Rest is such a vital element to our spiritual existence that failing to reach it is regarded as disobedience!

There remains a rest for the people of God. Let us, therefore, be diligent in entering that rest.

Hebrews 4:9-11  9 There remains, therefore, a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. 11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

In the text surrounding these particular verses, the writer of Hebrews recounts the event when God originally introduced the promise of “entering His rest.”  This covenant promise was made to the Israelites during their time in the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt. He had laid before them the wonderful pledge to bring them into their Promised Land. They saw His signs, wonders, and miraculous works in the wilderness for forty years. Yet Hebrews 9:3 says that the Lord was provoked by that generation because they continually went astray and did not recognize His ways. Hebrews 9:19 sums it up by saying that “they were unable to enter (the Promised Land) because of unbelief.”

This group was called hard-hearted, and rightly so. They must have been hard-hearted to have seen the miracles of God that these people saw and still do not believe.  Hebrews 4:1 warns us, “While the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.”

What sobering words. The word fear in this passage is the Greek word phobeo, which means to “be alarmed and show reverential fear.” This definition clarifies what this verse is saying to all of us: we are to be alarmed by these instructions enough to evaluate our present pursuits and see if we are falling short of what God has for us. Enough to show respect and reverential fear to the Lord by not walking in the same pattern of disobedience as those in the wilderness. These are strong warnings the Lord has issued to us in these verses and we would do well to heed them.

Resting is not doing “nothing.” Resting is an action word!  It takes effort—otherwise, God would probably not have to teach us about it.

To truly rest, one must make an on-purpose decision to do so. It requires quieting down what is going on inside, laying aside what’s happening outside, and choosing to yield only to the peace and presence of the Lord.

Rest can only be entered by faith. Faith must be released in order to lay hold of rest. Resting is both physical and spiritual. Both aspects of resting are equally necessary and vital. Failing to do either can allow you to become weak and vulnerable to attacks from the enemy.

Proper rest for both the spirit and the body is one of the most powerful weapons against fatal attacks you could possess—because it is in the process of resting spiritually and physically that the work of the Holy Spirit is at its strongest due to the fact that resting in Him we are in a state of complete submission and yielded-ness.

Blessings!

Lynda Renne

Sanctioned Love