'So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall'
– Hebrews chapter 4, verse 11.
In our busy lives of being a student, parent, worker or all in one (such as I am) time can elude us very easily. I know I never feel like I have enough hours in a day to do all I need to do.
We all have a daily regime of responsibilities and chores needing to be done, but what's more important amongst the busyness of our lives, is to find time to rest.
The challenge of rest
Rest is a repeated theme throughout Scripture. Even God Himself rested. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 10 says: 'For all who have entered into God's rest have rested from their labours, just as God did after creating the world'.
The Ten Commandments made resting on the Sabbath a requirement of the law (Exodus chapter 20, verses 8–11) with God emphasising, 'Remember the Sabbath'. God takes rest seriously and His will is for us to find rest.
It may be difficult for some of us to put time aside to rest. We feel like we always need to be doing something and wonder if resting may leave us 'catching up' later on. Both my husband and I are guilty of this; we can work late into the night and throughout the weekends. We can both work too much and we both find it extremely hard to relax and do nothing. Yet, God desires rest for us.
Part of the difficulty of us not being able to rest is a fear of losing out. This is especially true for me, as I run a business. Every time I get an order, I accept it because I don't know when the next order will be. Sometimes, I end up taking much more than I can handle and before I know it my time has spiralled out, and I am burnt out, exhausted and unable to rest.
I should not fear losing out, as I need to learn to trust God to take care of things for me. I have to believe that if I take a day off, the world will not stop spinning. My customers will be fine if I replied to them 24 hours later and not in an instant. Rest is about trusting God's care of me.
The promise of ultimate rest
Ultimately, our rest must be found in Christ. In Matthew chapter 11, verse 28, Jesus invites all who are weary and burdened to come to Him and cast our cares on Him.
Only when we have a personal relationship with Jesus, can we let our burdens go. We can ask Jesus to make our load lighter, and Jesus alone will give us peace.
Psalm 23, verse 2, says 'He makes me lie down in green pastures,he leads me beside quiet waters,he refreshes my soul.' I know I am in need of Jesus when I start to feel burnt out and even sleep doesn't give me rest. For spiritual rest is what replenishes my soul and body.
Clarissa Yates is from Singapore but moved to live in Perth, Western Australia in 2008. Clarissa completed a BSc. in Molecular Biology at the University of Western Australia and works part-time as a Research Assistant. She also owns a cake business, Lollicakes. She is currently studying to be an Early Childhood Educator. www.lollicakes.com.au
Clarissa Yates previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/clarissa-yates.html
