Resting in the Lord

Introduction

I want to talk to you today about rest.

It kind of seems like we are all tired nowadays, doesn’t it?

Think about this: when was the last time you asked someone how they were doing and they said “I’m great, well-rested, tons of energy!” That never happens. It’s always - busy, stressed, exhausted

We have a seven month old and sometimes we wonder what it was like to be able to sleep uninterrupted, or just be able to do whatever we wanted on a given day.

The need for physical rest can become almost a longing, an emotional need. Our need for rest can become the most palpable when we are the most weak.

When we talk about physical rest, it is very easy for us all to understand that concept. We have all experienced this kind of exhaustion, this overwhelming need for physical rest.

But what happens when you rest but still feel exhausted? What do you do with the kind of exhaustion that you can’t fix with a nap? This deep soul-weariness.

It seems like there is a different kind of tiredness that we struggle with. Tiredness that physical rest doesn’t seem to help. It’s a spiritual exhaustion.

What does this look like?

Feeling like something is wrong with the world, but having no idea what you can do to fix it.

Overwhelming anxiety about current events.

Wondering about whether your life will turn out the way that you hope it will.

Reaching for something that always seems just out of reach.

A feeling of distance between you and God.

Wondering if God really does love you and care about you.

All of this and more just makes us tired.

We may try to medicate this exhaustion with luxury, more money or power, or “positive thoughts” and self-actualization.

Ultimately, none of this will work.

This need for spiritual rest is nothing new. Jesus speaks to it in Matthew 11 where he says in this famous passage:

Matthew 11:28–30 CSB

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

This is an interesting call. A call from Jesus to - rest. You may be used to the call to work harder, try harder, be better, but Jesus says “you need to rest.” Not just any kind of rest, but “rest for your souls.”

St. Augustine echoes this, writing around 400 A.D.:

You move us to delight in praising You; for You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.

- St. Augustine - Confessions Book 1 written around 400 A.D.

I. Why do we need this rest?

Genesis 2:1–3 (CSB)

So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. On the seventh day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all his work of creation.

Why did God rest?

It was not because he was physically tired - God did not need to rest

God resting is him ceasing from one action to begin another

It indicates him shifting from “creating” to enjoying his creation

God did not need to create a world - he did not need us. He chose to create and then wanted to enjoy being with his creation in perfect harmony.

Understanding this kind of rest begins to illustrate its significance - there is a spiritual, communal aspect to this kind of rest

Genesis 2:15–17 (CSB)

The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”

We miss the full meaning of the word “put.” This word is intended to mean “to cause to rest”

Young’s Literal Translation

15 And Jehovah God taketh the man, and causeth him to rest in the garden of Eden, to serve it, and to keep it.

When God “puts” man in the garden, he is placing him there not just be a gardener, drone, or worker, but he is placing him in his proper place in the created order - resting in place as he should

Everything is as it should be - God is dwelling in fellowship with his creation and his creation is worshipping and obeying him

We know that this does not last:

Genesis 3:1 CSB

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Adam and Eve upset the balance by doing the one thing that God commanded them not to do

This act of rebellion was man moving from his proper place and in essence rejecting God’s “rest”

The audacity of man to declare that he knows better than God, this audacious arrogance is what we call - “sin.”

We are right to say that our sin separates us from God, but it also separates us from God’s rest. The restlessness felt by a weary soul is a symptom of a heart that is not submitted to God and his created order

Here, at the very beginning of time, we see the origin of the same soul-weariness, restlessness that you can feel today.

This restlessness comes from our rebellion against God and his plan.

“You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

II. How do we enter into this rest?

Let’s return to Matthew 11.

The main storyline of the Bible is God’s redemptive plan for mankind, culminating in Jesus coming to earth and sacrificing himself for the sins of the world, to bring us back into right relationship with him, back into his rest.

This is why Jesus says in the famous passage in Matthew 11:28-30

Matthew 11:28–30 CSB

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus describes salvation as a gift of rest. Back in right relationship with God - back where we should be, submitting to the Father.

Why is the yoke easy and the burden light? Because it is the yoke and the burden that we are supposed to bear! It fits us.

Example of horse’s harness, different sizes

The Christian life is hard, yes, but it should not be marked by misery. It can be a challenge, yes, but it should not feel oppressive. The moment your walk with God becomes an oppressive misery, you are being tempted to wander out of the rest of God. Walking through difficulty and trials is a temptation to wander out from God’s rest - we can still hear the serpent whispering in our ear “did God really say…?” and we are tempted to believe that there is something better out there, some more perfect rest, something else. But we have seen where that leads. We have seen the turmoil, the strife, the restlessness and pain. The wandering. How could it be anything else when creation rebels against its creator?

“You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

This is why this rest is so unique.

III. This rest is directly tied to relationship.

In Scripture we always see perfect rest as being tied to God’s presence. The two do not exist apart from one another. You can’t have this true rest without God

Instead of that, we try to find all kinds of way to rest without a relationship with God

Whether its external, trying to find “rest” in making your life as comfortable and secure as possible, or internal, trying to find this rest through self-actualization, positive thoughts, or just being a “good person,” all of these things are attempts to put our souls to rest apart from the Father

We try to find this deep rest for our souls apart from God, but how can creation rest apart from the Creator?

Since this rest is tied to relationship with God, we have to enter it on God’s terms, in obedience

Sin cannot be a part of this rest

You can’t have this rest without repentance

Sin goes against God’s character, his commands, who he is! Sin erodes creation itself. Sin causes weariness, exhaustion, wandering, pain, suffering. It is the expression of “things not being as they should be”

“You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

Application

Why would you not enter this rest? Why would anyone reject this offer of rest that ministers so clearly to what our souls need?

Example of a sheep - we are so used to captivity that we do not know how to embrace freedom.

You think that you know better than God.

You think that you understand creation better than the Creator!

You think that you can cure this spiritual exhaustion without the Father

We try to cure ourselves through…

Activity

As long as you are busy you don’t have to feel anything.

Might even be working for God.

Might be trying to do a lot of things that you think God would like.

I go to church ever Sunday, I give money, I try not to cuss too much…

Unbelief

You have a problem with what the Bible says about God

You do not get to define God for yourself

You don’t get to develop God in your own image

Sin is not okay with God

Legalism is not okay with God

Some of you may need to hear this: you are wrong about who God is.

You take Matthew 11 and make your own translation.

“My yoke is difficult and my burden is heavy.”

If you read Matthew 11 and say “that just doesn’t seem quite right,” you are simply not believing that God is who he says he is.

“You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

Response

Non Christian

Enter into God’s rest

This weariness has plagued mankind since the Garden

You will not find rest for your weary soul anywhere else - anyone else who says they can give it to you is lying to you

Christian

You still hear that whisper in your ear saying “Did God really say…?”

You are resistant to God’s rest because even though you would say you know him and love him - secretly you just really think that you know better than he does.

Have you forgotten that the call of Christ is a call to rest? Have you gotten wrapped up in trying to fix everything yourself, work so hard, that you have forgotten to rest?

Take time to remember to rest this week. Remind yourself that your salvation is meant to be a rest for your soul - God has done the work to save you and invites you into rest, molding you and changing you as you rest in him.

John 15 - we abide in Christ. Psalm 23 - God restores your soul. When you are tempted to feel restlessness, soul-weary, exhausted, remind yourself that God has called you into rest.

“You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”