Make Me Rest
Some Scripture is easy to understand, others, not so much. Today we are going to study a command that is actually quite easy to understand. It’s a command that God presents in a straight forward, clear manner. There is no confusion about what we are being told to do.
So, you might ask yourself, “If it’s so easy to understand, why study it?”
We need to study it because while it’s easy to understand, it’s extremely difficult in today’s day and age to obey. Some may even say it’s next to impossible. But that may be in part because we don’t really believe or understand just how important it is to obey.
Let’s start at the beginning
Genesis 2:1-3,
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
Now let’s look at Exodus 16:22,23 where the people of Israel are gathering manna.
22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, 23 he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’”
The seventh day, the last day of the week (Saturday) is supposed to be a day of rest. Today we’ve shifted it to the first day of the week (Sunday). For most pastors, Monday is their day to rest because they work on Sunday.
It’s not the day but what you do, or in this case what you don’t do, that’s important.
We Are Commanded To Rest
What does it mean to Rest?
The religious leaders in the Bible and even most of us today, have made the concept of Rest way more complicated than it should be by placing all types of rules on the Sabbath or our day of rest.
In its simplest form, a day of Rest is when we take a break from working and we spend time relaxing and focusing mainly on God.
Do you have a day each week when you rest?
Application
Psalm 23,
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
The term ‘lie down’ means to stretch oneself out, recumbent, sprawled out, horizontal. When you are flat on your back, it’s pretty hard to not rest. Your muscles relax, your breathing slows down, and your mind begins to stop wandering.
The Psalmist also talks about green pastures and still waters. It doesn’t get much more peaceful and relaxing than that. It’s why I have my quiet time on my patio. We don’t have a green pasture or still waters to look at but we have the trees and birds and some wild life. You can’t help but know there’s a God when you’re staring at His creations.
But here is what got me most about these verses, it's verse 2, “He makes me lie down.”
If you go too fast for too long, He will allow things to come into your life to make you slow down. Not to punish you but to restore you and draw you closer to him. Look at verse 3, “He restores my soul.” He makes my lie down to restore my soul.
Next Up…Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
If I paraphrase the literal translation of each word in those verses and personalize them I get something like this…
Come to me NOW, if you are physically and mentally exhausted, and overburdened by the pressures of life and I will give you a sense of peace and calmness that will allow you to recover and trust me more. Come now and I will give you the rest you need to be closer to Me.
I started out by saying we are commanded to rest because it is critically important. The opposite of rest is stress. Therefore, instead of restoring the body, stress destroys it.
Effects of Too Much Stress on the Body
Stress causes the brain to release cortisol.
Cortisol is an alarm system for your brain.
It’s your bodies main stress hormone, the hormone that triggers your ‘fight or flight’ instinct which raises your blood pressure.
Prolonged stress also effects the nervous system.
Which can impact the functionality of the brain
Which can trigger physical ailments in the body such as migraines, digestive issues, insomnia, etc.
People respond to stress differently
For some, it totally shuts them down, others thrive and perform at their best when under pressure. I tend to fall into the latter category, I don’t do ‘bored’ well. I thrive in high pressure environments. But there’s a negative side to that as well in that regardless of how you respond, the effects on the body will likely be the same.
So, when God commands us to rest one day a week, He is serious because it is critical to our physical and mental wellbeing. I believe that’s why the Psalmist says in Psalm 23,
He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
Resting one day a week is not an option in God’s mind and therefore, it shouldn’t be an option in ours either.
