Rest for the Soul

Jordan McKinney

I am sure that as you read the title of this blog post you are thinking, “oh great another blog about resting!” And you are right, there are thousands of blogs, podcasts, and books all around the idea of rest - and even biblical rest. I think most of us understand the idea of Sabbath and how we should all be resting. We all know the passage in Matthew that says, “Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light’” (Matthew 11:28-30). What I want to do is instead just mention some of my self reflections over the last couple weeks of what I think God is speaking to me about rest.

So I have been trying to recover from the chaos that was the holiday season, as most of us are right now. We had a great time at church and seeing family throughout Christmas and into the new year. But here is my little confession: I fell out of my regular devotional routine and even forgot to bring my Bible with me as I went to see family. Since getting back I jumped right back into work and was feeling a bit overwhelmed. Not in a way that I was stressed out, more like I couldn’t get my mind to settle down because there has been so much going on, and it was hard to focus because my thoughts were always racing onto the next thing. I finally made myself pick back up on my routine of reading Scripture and I happened to be reading Hebrews 4.

Hebrews 4 is all about the promise of rest for God’s people, and as I was reading I found that all my anxious thoughts and every ounce of stress seemed to melt away. It isn’t too shocking that getting into God’s word is where we find rest in him, but I was hit once again how this rest is so different than any other. I work hard to maintain a good work/life balance in my life. I make sure that I have been eating right, getting enough sleep, and finding down time to rest. These things are great for the mind, body, and our emotional well being. But reading Hebrews 4 reminded me of a better rest. A rest for our souls that we can get from no other place than Jesus. The author of Hebrews writes, “So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest” (Hebrews 4: 9-11a). After just a short reading of Scripture I felt more rested and refreshed than any amount of down time I had over the last couple weeks. 

I am reminded of Tolkien's writing about the elven city of Rivendell in the Lord of the Rings when I think about what devotional time is like. Tolkien writes, “such was the virtue of the land of Rivendell that soon all fear and anxiety was lifted from their minds. The future, good or ill, was not forgotten, but ceased to have any power over the present. Health and hope grew strong in them, and they were content with each good day as it came, taking pleasure in every meal, and in every word and song.” This type of rest isn’t a work of fiction for those of us in Christ. We can find this type of rest in him. I know that I am in more need of Jesus everyday, and I plan on entering that rest with him. I hope you will also find this rest in Jesus and in his word as well.