Rest
Before we begin, I want you to follow me on a weird excursion. To go where we have to go, you need to read the entire paragraph and do exactly as told.
I’d tell you to trust me, but that would be vain. Trust Him instead, He’s a much better choice…
After you’ve read this paragraph, I want you to close your eyes softly. Breathe a breath that will fill your lungs with air. Allow your mind to wander to that place in your mind where peace and tranquility is possible, whether that be a forest trail that you like or a lake that you’ve been to. Go to your happy place. When you get to that place, take a pause and listen to what the Father tells you as you remain in His presence…
Thank you for joining me in this little trip.
The reason why I asked you to join me is because, I believe that, In these moments of rest, God the Father, can talk to us.
In our extremely busy world, we rarely take the time to really rest and listen to what the Father has to say. Sometimes, they are messages of peace, meant to alleviate whatever worries or burdens that we may have in our lives. In other times, it may be a message to present what He has intended for us. To be frank, as I list these things that He may tell us in these times of rest, there are so many things that He could tell us. He is the Sovereign One. He will decide what He tells you, if He decides to tell you what He wants to tell you.
But why is rest so important?
While the idea of rest may seem to foreign to us, it wasn’t always the case. The Bible presents quite a few instances of rest, within both testaments. Within the ten commandments, He says:
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
- Exodus 20:8 - 11
“Sabbath”, in Hebrew, was the term for rest. God is repeatedly asking for us, His children, to relax and breathe. And in that, it is elaborated upon in the Psalms, as his humble servant David says: “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1). God wants us to rest with Him, in His shelter, and in His time.
Another instance happens in 1 Kings 3, where we see the newest king of Israel, Solomon, sleeping. It was as he slept, in a dream, that God the Father presented Himself to the new King and asked Solomon what he wanted; that’s when Solomon asked for wisdom and discernment (1 Kings 3:6 - 9). Again, we see that it is in these small moments of rest that the father can present Himself to us and talk to us.
And finally, I can present to you the greatest example: Jesus. Let us never forget the famous example of Jesus sleeping through a storm (Mark 4:38 - 40; Matthew 8:23 - 27). If God, the Creator of both the Heavens and Earth, as well as His begotten son, Jesus Christ, can both take time to rest, why can’t we?
I say that we can, but it requires something from us. It is more than just obedience to the world, but acknowledgement of our detachment to this world. Remember that Jesus said that those we are not of this world once we are chosen by Him and choose to follow Him (John 15:19). You and I must detach from this world and attach ourselves to a lifetime where the Father is our only priority - a world in which rest is something that we do naturally.
All the best and may the Father bless,
Eli