How to Enter into Rest with God

I know I’m not alone in struggling to rest. My mind goes into overdrive when I try telling me I’m not doing enough or that I’m not resting correctly. I get lost in what I think rest is and what God says it is. For a while I’d been intending on doing a deep dive into the Bible to see what it says about rest, and I’ve finally done it.

In my study with the help of David Guzik’s ‘Enduring Word’ bible commentary I relearned how to enter God’s rest and what it means to rest with God. This study took me all the way through the Bible from Creation in Genesis to our eternal rest with God in Revelation. What does the Bible tell us about rest and more importantly how to rest with God?

WHEN DID REST BEGIN?

God created rest at the beginning of time after He created the world and everything in it. We read in Genesis 2 how God rested from His work on the seventh day and declared that day holy because He rested. These verses in Genesis 2:1-3 foreshadow the eternal rest to come that we read about in Revelation.

“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 he had done. God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for he rested from all his work of creation.” Genesis 2:1-3 CSB

God wants us to rest because He cares for us and knows that we are most effective in our work when we make time for rest.

In Deuteronomy 5 God institutes a weekly rest for the Israelites. Deuteronomy 5:12-15 is the section of the Ten Commandments to the Israelites which speaks of honouring the Sabbath day. God commanded the Israelites that no one is to work on the Sabbath because it is holy. This commandment has been honoured for generations in different ways and as modern times came on different days.

“Be careful to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy as the Lord your God has commanded you. You are to labour six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. Do not do any work – you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or donkey, any of your livestock, or the resident alien who lives within your city gates, so that your male and female slaves may rest as you do. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.” Deuteronomy 5:12-15 CSB

The Sabbath was created not just as a day for God’s people to rest but also to set aside time to worship God and enjoy His creation. It teaches dependence on God rather than relying on human effort which is something many of us need to learn today.

In Exodus we read the story of the liberation of the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt and the beginning of their journey to the Promised Land. The land of Canaan, the so-called Promised Land was to be a place of rest for the Israelites, an inheritance from God to those who trust in Him. But along the way there was unrest among the people, and they turned from God many times. God punished this generation by not letting them enter the land He promised them.

No unbelieving heart can receive rest from God.

God in His grace and mercy did allow the next faithful generation to enter the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua.

We can learn from this story as we too will not receive rest from God without a surrendered and humble heart. Sure, we can rest from work, but it will not be as fulfilling and healing as rest with God. Rest is an inheritance from God; it is promised by Him to those who trust in Him.

In Revelation we read a description of what eternal rest is like and the similarities between it and the garden of Eden. We are told of a place without pain and suffering, a place of endless worship and community. Surrounded by the presence of God which brings rest and peace.

HOW TO ENTER INTO GOD’S REST

“Therefore, since the promise to enter his rest remains, let us beware that none of you be found to have fallen short. For we also have heard the good news just as they did. But the message they heard did not benefit them, since they were not united with those who heard it in faith. For we who have believed enter the rest, in keeping with what he has said, ‘So I swore in my anger, they will not enter my rest,’ even though his works have been finished since the foundation of the world.” Hebrews 4:1-3 CSB

There are four things that help us enter God’s rest.

BELIEVING DEEPLY

We can only enter God’s rest when we have faith. God is faithful to let us enter His rest as He has promised but only if we believe and trust in Him. When we are faithful God leads us to rest in Him whether it is resting from our works or just trusting in His plan.

CEASING FROM STRIVING AND WORRY

We do not need to strive for success or work for our own righteousness because of God’s grace (Hebrews 4:10). God has promised to take care of those who trust in Him, we enter into God’s rest by placing our worries in His hands and trusting that He will provide and fulfil His promises.

We have no reason to be afraid of the future because God is in control and His will cannot be stopped so there is no reason to worry about things we cannot control. In fact, in Philippians 4:6-7 God commands us not to worry but to give our worries to Him instead through prayer.

When we stop striving and worrying our burden should become light. Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30 that his yoke is easy, and his burden is light and that means he carries our burdens with us. If our burden feels heavy, it’s a sign that we have not given our worries and cares to God. Jesus says we will find rest for our souls when we come to him.

PRACTICING SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES AND SABBATH

It’s important to set aside time to spend time with God, if we are not intentional in setting aside time with Him it is all too easy to be distracted or tempted into overworking. That may be just carving out a few moments to sit in the silence with God or worshipping Him. Or it could be dedicating a whole day to God with no work just as the Israelites observed the Sabbath.

CULTIVATING HOPE-FILLED WAITING

“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labour pains until now.” Romans 8:22 CSB

Without hope we cannot rest. Without rest we cannot live as God intended. We can’t truly rest without hope because we wouldn’t have anything to look forward to, we’d have nothing to live for and in that mindset our eyes wouldn’t be set on God. Only God can give us the rest we need. So, we need to live with hope in every circumstance, when things are looking good or terrible. A life of faith is a life with hope. Hope is the spark that keeps our faith alive.

Ultimately, rest is being in God’s presence having cast off our burdens and our need to strive for righteousness or success trusting in Christ’s finished work. It is renewed strength that comes from hope in God and prayerful surrender which kills our anxiety. It is silence where we do not have to speak to defend ourselves but rest and trust that God will protect us and fulfil His promises. Rest is peace from God and contentment in our circumstances, and we enter into it when we obey God, when we worship Him, when we talk to Him and when we surrender to Him.

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