I have tried, for some time, to come up with an adequate description of the “rest” of God. Some find rest in front of a TV, or a glass of wine shared with a great dinner. While both of these activities slow the pace and relax the inner life, I have never been convinced that this is what God meant by the “rest” He has invited us to enter. Granted, we all need those moments of rest where we cease from relentless activity, so our bones, body and brains can recover. What I am interested in, is the eternal rest that God has made available to us now.   

There are a couple of things that God’s “rest” must accomplish. It should give us something to help us relax and recover, and something that causes us to regain strength and health. Beyond that, as we know, people rest their legs on a stool, so this “rest” of God should give some amazing support to building our trust and confidence. This “rest” must then be an interval from something; a support for something that results in trust or confidence in Someone.  

Here is a description I tendered last week for “rest”:
Rest is that place where a follower finds God’s grace in order
   to hear a promise that only God can speak,
     to think a thought that only God can send,
       to experience a joy that only God can incite,
         to live for a purpose that only God can reveal,
           to finish a course that only God can sustain,
             to create an object that only God can inspire.

Here, in this description, you find both qualities of “rest.” We find that we can relax from the world of aimless achievement that leaves one depleted and confused. Instead of a worthless, non-useful life, God’s “rest” offers us a life with a God-pace so that He can accomplish great things through us. In the end, we can accomplish things we never could, without Him, while we are burning His inner energy and not our own. In that, we are doing the inner effort stuff on His energy, and we find our support in Him, as we place our confidence in Him.  

Now if rest is merely relaxing, my body might be refreshed, but my inner self will become stressed beyond belief. In the obvious sense, I will accomplish little; I will develop a low sense of self-esteem, I will be bitter at others, just to name a few. No, I am convinced that the “rest” God is talking about is an inner quality where we live off His energy and see things accomplished, that we could never do, apart from Him. So let’s enter His “rest” TODAY.

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.  Hebrews 4:1 NKJV