Three Kinds of Rest
Bayless Conley
You are fatigued and tired because you are doing too many things. You have got too many irons in the fire. You are trying to be everywhere, you are trying to do everything, and you cannot do everything. You cannot be everywhere.
The gospel of John 15:1, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit
He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
God is into cutting things out. Sometimes you need to cut certain things away from your life.
1/ Do not cut out the spiritual. Number one, always put the spiritual before the material.
Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you.”
2/ Are the things that I am putting so much energy into producing good fruit in my life? Is it helping me reach my destiny in God? Or, is it wasting my time?
We read right here in John 15, Jesus said, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit…” What
happens? It is taken away. It gets cut out. Ask yourself: Are the things that I am sowing so much
time into, are they producing good fruit in my life? Are they helping me to reach my destiny in
God… the thing that I know God wants me to do or the goals that I have set? Or, are they
hindering me from doing that?
And sometimes that might even mean cutting out certain relationships that are not bearing good fruit in your life, cutting out other things that are producing the wrong kind of fruit in your life.
3/ What has God led me to do?
David wanted to build a temple but it was not what God wanted. That was left for Solomon to do. Every noble objective that you pick up on may not be God’s will for you.
No one can do it all, no one is called to do it all, and God will not permit one person to do it all.
I want to stick to the things that I am called to do and not waste energy on things that I’m not called to do. Because if I start doing what God hasn’t called me to do, then I’m not going to have time to concentrate on the things that He has called me to do.
If you are going to fight fatigue and tiredness and win, you are going to need to get rest. And there are three kinds of rest.
Genesis, chapter 2:1,Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.
And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh
day from all His work which He had done.
Here we have the Ten Commandments. Not the ten suggestions, the ten commandments.
He didn’t need to rest, But he knows that you do. I have nothing scheduled. That doesn’t mean I have
room to schedule other things. That means I have nothing scheduled.”
Look at Exodus 34:21, “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing
time and in harvest you shall rest.”
These were people were farmers. And during planting time, you’ve got to work during planting time! You have got to do it. That is when you are just hopeful that you are going to get a harvest, that things are going to work out, and you really have to do it. God says, “Even during planting time you rest.”
And then when harvest comes, when the desire is there, and you have got the momentum and
things are working, and you’ve got success, He says, “Rest in that time, as well.” And you get some people, they are involved in their business, they say, “Well, I can’t rest. I’m working hard, and I’m planting my seeds right now. I’m passing out my flyers. I’m making my phone calls. I’m doing all the things I need to do. I’m networking. I’m making all the connections I need to make.” Hey, rest during planting time.
“But if I don’t work hard, I’m not going to get to that place of success where I am going to get a harvest and all of my work is going to be rewarded! I can’t rest now. Maybe when that time comes, I will be able to rest.” No, you rest during planting. And then when the harvest comes and all of your hard work gets paid off and you start getting clients and the money starts coming in and there is momentum and it’s harvest time, you’re going, “Oh, I can’t rest now. You know, you need to make hay when the sun shines. You’ve just got to work.” Hey, you rest during harvest. Don’t think you are smarter than God. If you don’t, you won’t have the health to enjoy all of the fruit of your labors.
The Bible says this, in First Thessalonians 5:23, “May the God of peace sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.” God wants your spirit to be preserved, your soul to be preserved, and your body to be preserved until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
There are three areas of potential fatigue. The first one has to do with your physical body. You have to get rest and adequate sleep. Some people are just rundown physically, they’ve drained their natural resources and beyond; and if you don’t rest soon, you are going to be in trouble if you are not in trouble already.
Mark 6:31, And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.This is Jesus talking to His disciples: Come away to a deserted place where there is no work, where there are no people, where there are no schedules, and rest awhile. They didn’t have time even to eat. {I knew I was in trouble when I went to the bathroom, and I flushed the toilet before I even started. I was in such a hurry doing things, I thought, ‘What in the world is wrong with me?}
Some of you are that way. You don’t even have time to eat you are so busy. Not even time to sit down and eat a lunch. You just catch something on the run, “There are just too many things to do, just too much stuff to keep up with.” I know. Been there, done that. Jesus said, “Some of you need to find a deserted place.” Sometimes after we go on a vacation with the kids, Janet and I need a vacation from the vacation because they are very active, and they like to do a lot of stuff.But I really think it is a word for some of you: You need to get away to a deserted place and rest awhile. Jesus saw the fatigue on His disciples, and He said, “Boys, you need some rest.”
Mark Twain made the statement, says, “I’ve been through a great many crisis in my life, most of which never happened.” Some of you are absolutely stressing out about stuff, and it’s really not as big as you think. You’re just tired.
Secondly, You need to get rest for your soul. Matthew 11:28. Jesus said,“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”Jesus, here, is offering a rest for the soul. Where He said, “Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle…” There is a burden that the whole world carries, and it is slowly killing them. It’s the burden of pride and the fatiguing labor of self-love. The rest for your soul comes through meekness. Jesus’ yoke is His meekness and His humility. “Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me. I’m meek, I’m gentle, I’m lowly of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” The yoke of Jesus is His meekness and His humility. And that’s where the rest for your soul comes from. When you cease caring what people think about you or what men may say about you, you cease desiring to be recognized or chosen, you just obey what God wants you to do. And if you’re doing that, that’s all that matters. You shouldn’t care whether you get called upon or recognized or someone else is chosen above you. When you get out of the comparing and the competing thing, a wonderful rest comes into your life… when you get to the place where you don’t have to defend or protect yourself from others’ bad opinions or critical words. You’re content if no one ever recognizes your significance because you know that God does. You don’t have to worry about making a good impression on people or them discovering your imperfections. It just doesn’t matter, anymore.
But when you are always worrying about what people think, you haven’t taken Jesus’ yoke of meekness on you yet. When it is important to you to make a right impression and that people don’t discover all of the faults and things about you, you are not going to have rest. But when you stop worrying about saying something stupid or appearing unlearned and you can just be yourself, you’ll find out what rest is all about. The world is reeling under the burdens of pride and pretense. They are trying to be someone they’re not: Got to make sure you have the right clothes; got to make sure you know all the latest lingo; got to make sure you know what’s cool and what’s not. You are afraid someone is going to see you for who you really are! And so you have got to keep the facade up. You are just afraid that you are going to run into somebody who is more learned or somebody who is more traveled than you… some Marco Polo who has been around the world, who is going to be able to show
you up. You talk about your vacation, and it seems like you just had a campfire in the backyard. When you just stop caring about that kind of stuff… it doesn’t matter if somebody thinks I’m some plain Jane or some person who has never been anywhere, never done anything. It doesn’t matter. God knows my significance. And as far as I understand, I’m obeying God. And, God, if You know where I am, that’s enough. A wonderful rest comes into your soul when that happens. When you bow and take on the meekness of Jesus, it will bring deliverance to your soul. But some people have no rest in their soul because they are always worried about what other
people think of them: How they look, what they sound like. Jesus said, “Do you want rest for your soul? Bow your neck under My yoke. Learn to be meek, lowly in heart. You will find rest.” It’s a good way to rest.
Thirdly and finally, you are a spirit being. That is the real you, the person living on the inside. You need to get rest for your spirit. And that comes two ways. There are two parts to this inward rest of the spirit. Look with me in Hebrews 4:3, For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: “So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall
not enter My rest,’” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. We enter into God’s rest when we believe. And the Bible teaches us that it is with the heart, it is with the spirit that we believe God.
Now, interestingly enough, in Romans 10:17 it says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Faith comes by hearing. When we believe, when we have faith, we enter into rest. So, number one, if you will stay in the word, it becomes easy to believe. And a rest comes into your spirit when you are in faith. When you have trusted God’s promise concerning your finances or your health or your future or your family, one of the ways you know that you are in faith is a rest comes on the inside. All of the turbulence and the turmoil still may be swirling around you; but when we believe, we enter into rest. You will never be able to have a rest in your spirit, in your heart, until you spend time in His word. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word. It is with the heart that we believe. And when we believe, we enter into rest.And, see, that’s what God’s word does. It brings peace; it brings rest into your spirit.