The Revival of Rest

Rest. Stillness. Silence. Peace. Four invitations to meet the Lord. Four invitations to sit in His presence. Four invitations to know more of His heart.

March 12, 2020, hit almost every person with an obstacle—a forced pause in daily life. Our culture so loudly promotes the idea of busyness that the concept of rest is almost looked down upon. We go. We do. We spend. We entertain. Yet we fight rest. From a worldly perspective, the definition of rest can be unproductive and uncomfortable, two words opposite of our culture’s values—making many people tingle and itch, leading them to resist the need. 

Rest, however, is something to which our Father calls us! It is something He so graciously modeled for us in the beginning of scripture. Genesis 2:2-3 says, 

“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”

It is no surprise our culture resists the idea of rest and often skips over the biblical call to Sabbath. The Hebrew word holy means “to be set apart.” The Lord made Sabbath holy, and He called it holy. Because the Sabbath is a day that He has ordained to be set apart for rest, frequently, our culture misconstrues this idea because rest is contrary to the nature of this hyper-driven world.  

That is why when Covid hit, and things came to a forced halt, people freaked out! We had not been trained in the art of rest. We were no longer going. We were no longer doing. We were no longer spending. We were no longer entertaining. We were being. Some people curse the time we were all forced to pause, possibly due to anxiety or fear. I was greeted with feelings of fear and anxiety, but through the Holy Spirit renewing my mind, He has allowed me to view that time of forced rest not as a curse but as an invitation. 

The practice of Sabbath tunes us back to what we were created for – intimacy with Him. It is an intentional time set aside for recentering our minds, hearts, and souls back to the Father’s will. Within the universal Church, different doctrines are preached on how Sabbath should be observed. Still, the underlying, unwavering truth about the Sabbath is that it is a time of rest that the Lord invites us into.  

God himself is the refuge place of rest. He does not require rest as He Himself is rest. Yet, He did rest. Why? Because He wanted us to. One of the reasons God rested after creation was to model for us the value of rest. 

An idol in American culture, busyness has become a way for the enemy to pull us away from our Shepherd. Culture takes too much pride in the idea of being busy. As the American Church, we needed to reset from the busyness of life and refocus on the face of God. 

I thank Jesus for the revelations He brings in the stillness. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” I thank Jesus for the way He modeled the beauty of finding quiet places. Mark 6:31 says, “And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest awhile.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.” 

Church, this was a wake-up call. Before us stands four invitations—An invitation to rest. An invitation to stillness. An invitation to silence. An invitation to peace. He is calling us there, so surely He will meet us there.  

ADDITIONAL Resources: 

• The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer
• Bridgetown Audio Podcast series on “Sabbath” (January 6, 2019 – February 17, 2019)
• Garden City by John Mark Comer
• Biblical Invitation to rest: Matthew 11:28
• Biblical Invitation to stillness: Psalm 46:10, Psalm 37:7
• Biblical Invitation to silence: Exodus 14:14, Romans 10:17
• Biblical Invitation to peace: John 16:33, Isaiah 26:3

Editor’s Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official views of TeenPact Leadership Schools. To learn more about our Vision & Values, please visit teenpact.com/vision-values/.