The Land of Rest

“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.” Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.” Psalm 95:6-11 (ESV)

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard people speak of their upcoming day of peace, contentment, or rest. “When my finances come in, I will be so glad.” “When a new job comes, I will have peace.” “I will tithe ten dollars when God brings me one hundred dollars.” Peace, joy, giving, and rest do not begin when circumstances change. They must begin now. Peace, joy, giving, and rest are a choice, not the result of a new situation.

What we as Christians must rest on daily is the promises given to us by God in the word. David said it so plainly, today if you hear His voice. Today is the day to quit hardening your heart, believe God’s promise and rest on it. You do not enter a new situation and find rest. You take your rest with you into the new situation.

You can find rest in the worst situations. Rest does not come from what you experience, but from what you know. Paul told the Corinthians, “Therefore we are always confident, knowing…” (2 Corinthians 5:6). Knowledge produces confidence. Confidence is another term for resting on what God has told us. In fact, as Paul told us, we can have confidence always.

“For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said. “As I swore in my wrath they shall not enter my rest,” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken on the seventh day in this way. “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works” And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.” Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news (gospel) failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us, therefore, strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. Hebrews 4:3-11 (ESV)

Whether you like it or not, conflicts in life will come. Whether you are resting on God’s promises or griping and complaining about your life, storms will come. The griping and complaining Christian will probably not come through the problem successfully, stronger and more mature. The one who rests on the promises will end up on the other side of the situation with increased peace, maturity and stability.

Spiritual Rest Demonstrated in the Old Testament

As we have seen from David in Psalms and Paul in the book of Hebrews, learning to rest on God’s promises is not a New Testament monopoly. Rest has always been available to the saint.

Joseph was given a dream early in life that he would be a ruler in his own family. He saw his family, as stalks of wheat and stars of heaven, bow down before him in nighttime visions. Yet, Joseph ended up being sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers. This did not seem like the fulfillment of a promise of God. He then went from slavery to prison. It seemed Joseph’s life was being taken in the wrong direction. This would be a good time to complain and gripe to the Lord, “What about the dream you gave me?” Yet, Joseph did not complain, but rather, rested on the promise. If God promised it, it will have to come to pass. Joseph made the best of his situation.

About the time Joseph thought things could not get worse, they did. Have you ever been in a place where you thought you had hit bottom, then the bottom dropped out from under you? Joseph went from prison to the lowest dungeon based on lies spoken about him. Yet, he still rested on God’s promise of future rulership. Resting in the Lord paid off. Joseph came out of prison and ended up as prime minister over all Egypt. He later saw his brothers bow down before him and the dream from his teenage years come to pass. He ruled over Egypt then ruled his family. Learning to rest on what God has promised produces great dividends.

Daniel is another example of an Old Testament saint who rested on God’s word. Taken into captivity in Babylon, he refused to bow down to the image of the king. His friends ended up in a dungeon of fire. They all survived as they marched through the fire praising God. Later, Daniel was thrown into a lion’s den and slept on the lion. The next morning he was released unharmed. Daniel then became an advisor to the king of Babylon. He later became an advisor to the incoming king of Persia. God gave Daniel visions and prophesies which brought comfort and faith to the Jews in captivity. Daniel, like Joseph, learned that resting on God’s word will bring deliverance.

Spiritual Rest Demonstrated in the New Testament

Jesus In The Boat

Jesus gave a promise which was clear and sure. He told them, “let us go across to the other side.” The promise included all of them. He did not say a few would make it, but all. He did not say they would try to go across, but they would. He did not say they would go halfway and sink. He told them they would all go to the other side. Jesus rested on the promise, the disciples did not. With that promise spoken, Jesus went to sleep in the boat on a pillow, a seat cushion. That was more than a pillow Jesus slept on, it was the promise to go to the other side.

God never said we would not have storms in life. But He did promise to bring us through them. Jesus might have known a storm was coming. He might not have known. Yet, it did not matter. The promise had been given. The disciples panicked during the storm and woke up Jesus for help. They actually had the nerve to ask Him if he cared. Can you imagine asking the Son of God if He cares? Of course, he does. In the story, He cared enough to give them a promise of deliverance before they ever left the shore or entered the storm.

Jesus stood up and rebuked the storm for the disbelieving and worried disciples. Jesus then rebuked their unbelief and told them they possessed little faith. Think of the comparison. Jesus had great faith and they had small faith. Jesus slept and they feared. When awakened, Jesus rebuked the storm and stopped it in response to their fears. Sometimes, it is a demonstration of greater faith to sleep through a storm than rebuke it. The greatest gift God can give you is His promise. It is His guarantee that you will be fine and taken care of.

Jesus showed us the value of resting on a promise given. What the disciples said to Jesus has a chilling ending, “Don’t you care that we are perishing (dying)?” Does that sound familiar? It sounds like Israel in the wilderness. “God’s plan was to bring us here and kill us.”

Peter In Prison

A second example of resting on a promise is given in Acts 12. Peter has been imprisoned by King Herod to be killed the next morning. How he handled a probable death situation is a great example of resting on God’s promises.

“And when he (Herod) had seized him (Peter), he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me. And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord and they went out and went along one street and immediately the angel left him” Acts 12:4-10 (ESV).

How did Peter treat the fact that the next morning he was scheduled to die? He went to sleep in the prison. In fact, he slept so soundly, the angel who woke him had to hit him hard to wake him up. Even then, Peter did not wake up completely and was not aware of what was happening. He was told by the angel to put on his clothes, but the angel had to lead him out through gates which opened up by themselves. Once in the street, the angel disappeared and Peter then realized what happened. He had been delivered by the power of God through an angel from heaven.

I ask you if you were in prison, scheduled to die in the morning, could you sleep? If you could, would you sleep soundly, so soundly you would have to be hit hard to wake up? Peter did. I often wondered what the two guards who were chained to him thought. One guard might have looked at the other and said, “Do you get this guy? He is snoring. How can he sleep, knowing he is scheduled to die tomorrow?” We know the promises Joseph rested on. We know the promises Daniel rested on. We have quoted the promise Jesus rested on. But what did Peter rest on? What promise was given to him? Like Jesus, what pillow did Peter rest his head on? It is given during Jesus’ last meeting with the disciples. He pulled Peter aside and told him how he would one day die. “Truly, truly I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God) John 21:18, 19 (ESV).

Peter was told by Jesus he would not die until he was very old. He would reach the point in life where he no longer had the strength or ability to dress himself. His death would come at an age when he would only have the strength to put his hands out in front of him. Someone else would dress him and carry him to his death. We are told in history Peter was crucified upside down. When the angel woke Peter, he told him to dress himself. The angel was simply saying, “It is not time for you to die.” Then Peter followed the angel out of the prison, through the gates and into the streets. Peter was again being told, “It is not time for you to die.” No wonder Peter could enter into such a deep sleep. No matter how it had to happen, he would not die. Deliverance would come. He had Jesus’ word on it.

Seven Thousand Promises

If the promise is in the Old Testament, it has not lost its power. A New Testament promise is as real today as it was in the day that it was given. First, find a promise and mix it with your faith. Second, rest on the promise knowing the God who declared it has already accomplished it and will cause it to come to pass.

“Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.” (Psalm 116:7)