Is Your Soul Restless?
Finding True Rest in Jesus
In today’s hurried world, rest can seem elusive. We rush through our days, anxious about everything we need to get done. At night, insomnia keeps our minds racing, unable to quiet down enough for refreshing sleep. But in the midst of the chaos, Jesus offers us something more – a deep spiritual rest for our souls.
The original Hebrew word for “rest,” shabbat, means to stop, cease, or have relief. It’s a reprieve from frantic activity that brings feelings of renewal. Metaphorically, rest in Scripture often refers to the blessing, safety, security, and salvation that come from God’s presence. As described here, rest is a sense of peace and comfort – “an exhale” – found in trusting God.
But the Israelites failed to experience this rest, despite witnessing God’s miracles during the Exodus. They grew restless, grumbling and rebelling. Their lack of faith short-circuited their ability to rest in God’s promises. As a result, they forfeited God’s intended rest for them.
Just like lack of sleep affects our bodies, minds and relationships, spiritual “insomnia” impacts every area of life. When we try to handle burdens in our own inadequate strength instead of resting in God, we become irritable, ineffective and struggle in relationships. Our failed attempts to manufacture control or approval will never satisfy our souls.
The only true rest comes from Jesus. By grace through faith, He secured eternal rest. When we trust and obey Him wholeheartedly, we find rest from pointless striving and trying to earn God’s favor. We can stop wrestling tasks away from God that only He has power and wisdom to handle. Finding rest starts with believing Jesus’ finished work and responding accordingly.
God designed His Word to penetrate deeply, assessing the private thoughts and motives we try to hide. If we’ll let Scripture do its cleansing work, it will cut away lies and sins that disrupt rest. But we must guard against distancing ourselves from the Word or merely using it to prooftext our own agendas. To rest fully, we must let God’s Word and His Spirit do their perfect work in us.
As believers, we can grow in resting in Jesus by consistently engaging Scripture, responding promptly to the Spirit’s nudges, and replacing things that clutter our lives with more life-giving practices. When we clear space for God’s Word to shape us and learn to trust His guiding presence moment-by-moment, we’ll increasingly reflect Jesus’ unanxious peace to the world around us. Our rest in God will sustain us through external pressures and internal lies.
True rest starts in the soul. Jesus alone offers the complete spiritual rest our hearts desperately need. What might God be inviting you to rearrange or relinquish so you can rest fully in Him? Will you accept His gift of rest?