By Tony Martin
Associate Editor
Find rest. Walk in God’s way and find Him.
Rest seems to be in short supply these days. There’s a splendid irony at work here. Even though the world has slowed down because of the pandemic, we are more internally unsettled than ever. We may still be busy, but there’s that uneasy churning in our soul that is taking its toll.
So rest is something we’d like to experience, right? Just a sense of peace, of settling down, of being free from the worry and angst of the world.
Understand that God promises rest. Ancient script states in Matthew 11:28-30:
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
That’s good. The promise of rest. So why the struggle many of us have?
Beats me. I think a lot of it has to do with simple trust in God.
Here’s some good news about rest. Part of finding rest, experiencing rest, comes with the realization that no evil can touch you.
That does not mean, of course, that you will ever be freed from the presence of evil. We live in a fallen world, right? So evil abounds.
Evil will not harm you in the strictest sense. It can certainly influence you, but when it comes to eternity – and that’s what I’m talking about – it will not cause you to lose your reward.
You will suffer in this world. You’ll deal with illness and loss. Bad things will happen. Evil things, even. But they can’t touch that part of you that belongs to God.
I’m not advocating denial here. I am advocating rest coming from knowing you are His, and He is yours. That’s a pretty secure place to be in. That is an opportunity for finding rest.
I’m not advocating denial here. I am advocating rest coming from knowing you are His, and He is yours. That’s a pretty secure place to be in. That is an opportunity for finding rest.
Rest means not to struggle.
Consider that. Struggle is the antithesis of rest. When you’re fighting, you aren’t resting. You’re on alert, you’re all wound up, and you’re a bundle of tension.
I wonder if part of our struggles are imposed by the world. Does the word “overwhelmed” resonate with you? Feel like you’re fighting something all the time?
Here’s where that line of thinking will invariably lead. You’ll find yourself struggling, fretting, and feeling swamped by life itself. Worse, there may be a sense you’re all alone in your struggles. Awful. You can’t find rest.
That loneliness comes from a sense that no one can really understand what you’re facing. Actually, that’s true. While some people can empathize, no one will ever totally get it because you are unique in every way. That’s not a bad thing.
I don’t have a magic formula for finding rest for you, or really even showing you how to find rest. So let’s just stick to basics, shall we?
God alone has perfect understanding of you. He understands you even when you don’t understand you.
When you need perfect understanding, that’s where you go.
When you need the awareness of a perfect, loving, tender relationship, that’s really your only option.
So. For those days when you’re overwhelmed, when rest seems like a fantasy, and you want to say to the world “Please understand me!” here’s the good news.
Someone does.
Be well.
