The Weapon of Rest

Yesterday, the Lord gave me a word for a person involving "rest". The word dealt with the Lord's command and design that we enter into rest one day each week.

There are all kinds of benefits to rest that we as 21st century Americans choose to overlook. We use our time off to catch up on the tasks and jobs, shopping and chores that we cannot squeeze into our normal week. We later reward ourselves with some form of entertainment but can any of us say that we have rested in a long time? Even on vacation we often drive ourselves to "have fun" and finish that time of rest more tired than when we started. As Christians, we have run rough shod over the Fourth Commandment as much as the others--and I am no exception!

Later that same afternoon, I was listening to a talk by a missionary to Africa. The missionary mentioned that "rest" was a powerful weapon of God's Holy Spirit. She went on to tell of the victories that were won as great men and women of God "rested" in Him. God moves when we rest in Him.

When the same theme shows up several times on the same day I listen. I have never thought of rest as a spiritual weapon but it actually is. That is one reason why the writer of Hebrews admonishes us to "enter into God's rest". Naomi wanted Ruth to find a husband so that she (Ruth) could have rest in her life (i.e. provision, protection, and love).

This then led me to consider the things that drive me from rest. Fear drives us from rest. There is that driving sense that we must be doing something in order to fix our lives. Doing often provides the anesthesia to the low grade pain that is always there that we have grown accustomed to.

When we rest in God, we shut down our lives (the operative word being "our"). We sit before God and we sit with God! We re-create. It is not just a command for our well being (literally, our well being) but it is the foundation of a powerful weapon against hell.

I find it interesting that the Jewish concept of day is evening first and then morning, versus our Greek concept of the day beginning at sun rise. When day begins at evening, it means that we first rest and then out of that rest we work. Evening then morning.

Finally, as I write this, I write this as condemned as you probably feel reading it. I have no idea where I can squeeze rest into my weekly schedule. All I can think of are the multitudinous chores that will pile up if I rest one day each week. However, let's not give up. Let's ask the Holy Spirit to help us. He seems to be bringing this concept (or "brick") to the forefront, and so let's see what He can do to help moves us into the direction of "entering into God's rest".

When introducing a new discipline into your spiritual life, it is often wise to begin small and work up from there. At the beginning, the Holy Spirit may encourage you to take a few hours a week to simply rest. But let Him start with something. Offer Him something and know that every time you "rest", you are lobbing a grenade at hell.

Blessings,
Father Scott +