Rest...rest...stop...rest...peace...rest...refreshing...rest...
Recently I have been impressed upon to rest. Rest. Ironically, I wasn't really sure how to do that or what exactly it meant in this particular season. So, I looked up the word "rest"...
The word "rest" can have many meanings, but I have been led here:
In English, Rest:
A bodily state characterized by minimal functional and metabolic activities,
freedom from activity or labor,
a state of motionlessness or inactivity,
peace of mind or spirit
In Greek, Anapausis:
An intermission,
cessation of any motion,
business or labour;
rest, relaxation
The Greek form of rest - anapausis - is used in the following scripture:
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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.~Matthew 11:29
In our humanity, God designed us to require rest.
Rest is a form of "inactivity" that affects all other aspects of our existence. If we work too long or hard at anything, we become fatigued, worn out physically and/or mentally. And If our mental state is worn, our ability to connect with God can become challenging. We most often see the need for rest when we are overworked at our jobs. We take a vacation, and afterward, even though our body is seemingly rested and refreshed, our mind and spirit are not. We return to physically being able to continue as we did at work, but mentally we may be suffering turmoil, stress, depression, and spiritually...well...some overlook the spiritual all together at this point as they try to deal with all that they have going on in the physical/mental.
Our intrinsic need to rest physically becomes a priority, a matter of survival.
Mental recuperation generally follows the physical; for example, when fatigue or pain is gone we can think more clearly, respond more appropriately, cope more effectively, but spiritual recuperation does not necessarily happen as easily as the physical or the mental. I would suggest that the spiritual aspect of rest is like an interconnected, dynamic umbrella to the physical and mental, protecting our body and mind from full on burn out or even death. The most important of rests. If your spirit is "right" (rested, at peace, refreshed), your mental and physical well-being tend to be on the right track also. To get "right" with your spirit means you need to do some soul searching and recognize where you are at with your relationship with God.
It is in the spiritual battles of life, (that oftentimes we are not even aware of) that manifest themselves as forms of physical and mental issues such as fatigue, brokenness, turmoil, etc., that God calls us to rest.
Jesus calls to us, "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."
Rest is essential to the well-being of our souls, the spiritual aspect of our being.
Spiritual rest is something that is connected to the mental and physical.
When we engage in rest, we have an inner change...a refreshing.
Rest.
Have you heard the saying, "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience" ?
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”~Jeremiah 1:5
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.~Psalm 139:13-16
God knew us before we were born, He knew us as individuals, He had a plan for our best life even before we were formed in the physical.
And in the physical, He knew we would need to rest, and more than that, He knew we would need to rest in the spiritual. He breathed life into us, the soul, to give life to the flesh. The spiritual and the physical are intertwined. It is the spiritual rest in Him that recharges us, that gives us strength, and Life so that our physical and mental well-being can prosper.
He knows us.
Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes though waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.'~Luke 11:24
Luke 11:24 is not referring to human beings, but rather, what I will call fallen heavenly beings, and I include it to emphasize that rest is really a spiritual act that is not only essential but it is so significant it is sought after even by the fallen.
Rest...It is a blessing, a gift for us from a loving God.
Blessing.
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.~1 John 4:8
God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.~1 John 4:16b
Love.
When chaos, confusion, despair, weariness, depression, etc., rears its ugliness into our world, this God of Love, who cares about us, who knows us even before we were born, invites us into His presence, into His peace, into His rest. We unload our hurts, our baggage, whatever it is we are carrying that is burdening our existence and hand it over to God. Let Him deal with it and then let Him deal with you. It is not a passive act where you dump your load and wait for refreshing; rather, He invites us to take His yoke and learn from Him. This is where the rubber hits the pavement so to speak, and this is also where and why many choose to continue to carry their loads and walk away from Jesus' offer. (It is a standing offer however...never forget that.)
Now, at this point, I need to rest. I would like to explore more what it means to take up His yoke, but in the meantime consider...
...Rest
