PSALM 62 1: “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.” (NIV)
Reread verse 1 and 2: “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.” (NIV) Strong’s translates rest from Hebrew to mean “stillness, to be still” and from Greek to mean “peace, relief.”
Finding rest can be hard when afflicted with hurt, with pain, with disappointment. It doesn’t really matter the problem is, except we have all been to a point when we feel there is no rest for us or in us. In the moment of our unrest, rest is not even visible over the horizon of our life. The struggle is too large. Too overwhelming. No one can help. There is no relief, even from God, so we think. Too persistent to ever have hope of going away, we easily fall into the dark pit of hopeless that gets a little deeper each day. This of course is not true, not even a tiny bit.
We trudge through each day. The monotony of each day drags you down. Nothing works right. Everyone is against you. Today may be your last day on the job because of downsizing. Your kids are rebelling, and your dog ran away. Life hurts and all you want is a break, just a little one, for even a moment. What you need is rest, a stillness in your heart from God and for God.
I want you to know something. Finding rest isn’t a great secret. It isn’t found in some distant land or a benefit of some exclusive club. In fact, you don’t even have to pay three easy payments of $19.99 for it. There isn’t a price on it because it costs nothing. It was purchased for you. There is only one thing you’ve gotta do: believe in Jesus Christ and profess he is your Lord and Savior.
You see, God is there for us. I’m sorry. God is HERE for us and He is on our side. The Word explains this to us who are weary. To those of us who suffer day and day, week to week, year and year, we are reminded that the Lord is here today. He is real. He is the Helper to us who need rest. Those on their last leg who just gulped that last sip of air before being submerged in the world of troubles, God is here with His outstretched hand, waiting for you to reach and grasp His hand so he can pull you up.
Those living in the world and are of the world will never understand rest in Christ. Hebrews 3:16-19 says “16Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? 18And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.” (NIV) If you don’t believe in Christ as your Lord and Savior, you will never have rest.
Worldly people think they know what rest is. It’s that vacation they worked all year for. It’s golf Friday. It is sleeping in. The concept of rest in the Lord is foreign to them. They try to get close to rest through such things as yoga or other forms of mystic meditations, but they only miss the mark and are not fulfilled.
The Word says in Mathew 11:28 says “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
You hear that? Christ WILL give you rest. That stillness you need in your soul and heart. That drink of water you’ve been craving all day after laboring in the harsh summer sun we call everyday life. At the end of the day, Christ is there with the ladle of cool refreshing rest, if you want it.
John 14:21, states “He that has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved of My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
You need rest? God has it for you and it is free for the taking. All you need to do is believe and proclaim Christ is your Lord and Savior and died for your sins so you may be saved and live with Him in eternity. It’s that easy. And with that proclamation and obedience to his will, rest is readily available to those who seek it.
12 July 2012
John F. Lysaught