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Finding Rest in God

Matthew 11: 28 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” 

We live in a busy world, with busy people, with busy schedules. Everything is moving constantly, and sometimes we forget to take a break. We’ve developed such a productive mindset that anything outside of working is called ‘lazy’. This isn’t me encouraging you to spend hours on social media and not feel guilty, or watch that 3-hour movie, or even play that video game for 10 hours straight. All those things aren’t rest; true rest is dwelling in God’s presence.  

If we are truly made in the image of God, then we are to follow the example that He has set us. If we go all the way back to Genisis, we are introduced to the idea of rest. God rested on the 7th day of His creation. But why? Why would a God that is all powerful and never sleeping need rest? I don’t think God needed rest, but rather to show us an example of the very thing He requires us to do. 

God requires rest from us so much that we are unable to function without sleep. But sleep isn’t even solely rest it’s merely a biological necessity. Genuine rest can only ever be found through God. We can find rest in things that aren’t lasting. Maybe it’s that TV show, that favourite snack, or even that friend. For me, it was Basketball. I ran to that sport anytime things were wrong, and though it was a good outlet, it never fully helped me.  

Temporary rest is only a temporary solution. It will never fill that void that you seek, Jesus fills that void. If we look at the verse more closely Jesus wants to take that burden that you carry. He doesn’t want you to run towards other things, He wants you to choose him, because He is your only source of rest.  

But what does rest practically look like? In one word it’s stillness. This doesn’t mean you should be motionless; stillness isn’t associated with anything physical, but rather a full surrendering of our heart, soul and mind (Psalms 46:10) 

Majority of the stress and tiredness that we go through has nothing to do with anything we do physically. I’ll give you an example. Picture the last time you were stressed, like really stressed, what were you doing physically? 9 times out of 10 it was probably nothing, and from someone looking externally they may assume everything is alright with you. That’s the issue of stress; we carry the workload and baggage of situations that can’t be seen with the naked eye. But God sees. God knows what you're going through, and not only wants to be there for you, but He also wants to take that burden off that you carry around tirelessly everyday.  

Give it all to God and find rest in Him.  

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