Rest as a Weapon

As we dive into the topic of rest, let’s consider the things that distract us from the rest that God has designed for us.  For many of us, it’s simply the problems and challenges of life.  We face storms, battles, and giants that loom over us.  There are circumstances in our lives that threaten to rob our security, our peace, and our joy.  We struggle with fear and insecurities.  And we know this isn’t how things were meant to be.

 We divert our attention to the problem.  The issue becomes our focal point, and we rally our energy and our strength around trying to fix the issue.  We exhaust all our resources and every strategy we have at our disposal in an attempt to rid our lives of this problem.  We take on this burden as our responsibility as we seek to live the life that God has called us to.

 Although there are specific actions that God would lead us to take to confront challenging circumstances, we often fail to realize that rest is a form of warfare.  It seems counterintuitive.  When things are going awry in our lives, rest seems like the last option, as we scramble to fix what has gone wrong.  On the contrary, our rest sends a message to the enemy’s camp that we have chosen to trust God.  We can choose to rest knowing that He has already given us the victory.  We can rest knowing that He never leaves our side, and He guides us every step of the way.  We can rest knowing that when answers allude us, He is the answer.

 In Isaiah 30:15, God tells the people of Israel: “In quietness and confidence is your strength” (NLT).  The people of Israel were notorious for trying to do things in their own strength, according to their own way.  They rebelled against the Lord continually.  They weren’t unlike us.  We are all guilty of believing at times that in order to experience peace, we must be in control.  Yet, God continually offers us his mercy and grace, and reminds us that our salvation comes from choosing to rest and to trust in Him.  We can be confident that He has our best interest at heart, and we can rely on Him to fight for us.  Our strength lies in our ability to rest in Him and to know that He is moving on our behalf.

 Let’s choose to lay aside our worrying and our striving.  Let’s choose to ditch the idea that we must try really hard to figure out and solve all our problems.  Let’s choose to rest in the heart of Jesus and to allow him to take control of our lives.  Let’s choose to engage rest as a weapon.