Finding rest when you are exhausted

"Let, us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience." - Hebrews 4:11

Are you in dire need of rest?  A complete and total disconnect from your to-do list and all responsibilities of providing for your family, meeting a deadline or completing your school projects?  How about more sleep?  Do you wish you could get in just one or two more hours of sleep everyday? 

After undergoing a sleep study, I recently learned I have sleep apnea .  I wasn't the least bit surprised to receive these results.  Honestly, I wake up sleepy everyday and by 6pm I just want to hit my pillow.  So when I received the diagnoses, I was rather pleased because all these years of feeling groggy finally made sense.  So I could definitely use more sleep! 

Well rest is something God understood.  We know that He rested on the seventh day of creation.  

        "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work." - Genesis 2:2

He had worked hard and so He rested after it was completed.  In this same way, God wants us to rest.  But I believe that He not only wants us to rest physically - because He knows we need it - but He also wants us to rest spiritually.  Only He can give us the ultimate rest we could ever desire.

        "Let, us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their         example of disobedience." - Hebrews 4:11

"Their" in this verse is referring to the Israelites who disobeyed God in the Sinai Desert and ended up wandering over a 40-year period after Moses led them out of Egypt.  Because of their disobedience they never entered the Promised Land God had intended for them; therefore, they never received His ultimate blessing of rest.  I'm certain the Israelites were ready to settle down and finally have a place they could call "home."  I can only imagine how exhausting it was to pitch a tent, feel settled in, only to find that you have to dismantle your tent, pack up and continue on your journey and find a new location to settle every few days, weeks, months as they journeyed through the desert. 

Most of us, after a long day of work, can find solace in knowing we have a permanent address and that it won't change on a daily or weekly basis.  Imagine how much more exhausted we would be if we were moving every day, week or month.  Well I'm certain the Israelites were excited, anxious and weary all at the same time and they wanted to settle in sooner rather than later.  Unfortunately, their doubt, unbelief and disobedience caused them to wander for four decades and never enter this "rest."

        "Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, 'So I declared on oath in my anger, They shall never enter my rest.' " - Hebrews 4:3

This generation of Israelites never entered His rest.  This was their punishment.  They never found physical rest as their journey continued for decades.  They never became homeowners in the land God had intended for them.  In addition to not receiving physical rest, they never received this spiritual rest God promises if we believe.  They were constantly searching and all the while God was showing them His might through signs and miracles.  To name a few:

        "Then the Lord said to Moses, I will rain down bread from heaven for you." - Exodus 16:4a

        "Moses also said, 'You will know that it was the LORD when he gives you meat to eat in the                 evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him.  Who are we?  You are not grumbling against us, but against the LORD.' " - Exodus 16:8

God showed up for them constantly.  He never abandoned them but wanted to show them the way to ultimate rest.  In their continued search, they built a god, a golden calf that they worshiped.  It sounds like they were anxious to do things for themselves instead of wait on The Lord.  When they saw that Moses had not come back from the mountain (Moses was receiving the ten commandments from God), they became anxious and proceeded to take matters into their own hands.  This is the kind of spiritual disobedience God is referring to in Hebrews 4:11 (above).  How different would it have been if they would have rested in Him and waited for Moses to come back down from the mountain.  After all, God had showed up every other time they needed Him: parting of the red sea, providing water, providing bread and meat.  Why would this day be any different?  But instead of resting in Him and finding comfort in His promises, they disobeyed. 

In this same way, God wants us to enter His rest.  Are you searching for purpose here on earth?  God is telling you you don't have to search any longer.  You can find purpose by resting in Him.  He doesn't want you searching any longer.  It is exhausting.  You can stop striving to find purpose or approval.  Turn to Christ.  He has already done all the work for you.  All you have to do is fix your eyes on Him and the work He accomplished on the cross.  Amen, He did all of the "work" for you.  There is nothing left for you to do but receive Him and enter eternal rest.  He is inviting you to enter the Promised Land.  Get ready to receive His blessings on your life.  The Israelites didn't receive the blessing of entering the Promised Land, but you can, if you obey and believe.  Your salvation is your rest and your eternity. 

Whatever you may be going through today, loss, infertility, loneliness, anxiety, anything, hand it over to the Lord.  Leave your burdens at the cross where pain and regret meets love and salvation.  He wants to carry this for you.  Will you let Him?

May His rest fall afresh on you today!