Rest

Have you ever tried to rock to sleep a toddler who was determined to stay awake and not miss the fun? Typically, such children will wear themselves out "fighting sleep" and finally collapse, spent, against your chest, looking every bit the innocent child with a sleeping face betraying none of the struggle shown only moments before.

That's the picture God has given me to help me understand the principle of rest, and the futility of struggling against Him. In fact, I am beginning to see a strand through Scripture that calls us to this rest:

* Jacob "fought with God" (Gen. 32) but the blessing didn't come until he quit fighting. The NET Bible notes explain that the Hebrew text makes clear that after the angel touched Jacob's sinew, Jacob stopped fighting before asking for a blessing: "To be successful with God meant that he had to be crippled in his own self-sufficiency." In other words, he had to learn something of rest before he could be blessed.

* "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted over the nations." (Ps. 46:10) Here God calls us literally to "cease striving" (the literal translation of 'be still') and know Him. Specifically, we rest in knowing He will be exalted over the nations - even in a time when the nations are in turmoil.

* Even the Apostle Paul had to learn that struggling with God is futile. In fact, God told him that he was only hurting himself by "kicking against the goads" (Acts 26:14).

Hebrews 4 lays down rest as one of the key principles of faith. Verse 10 makes clear that we rest from our works. We find our "rest in faith" in Him. We may come away limping, but we find a dependence that keeps us trusting in a new way.

And that is precisely the point. Because like a parent knows when the child is tired, God knows that we need to relax and lean against Him. He knows that we need to learn how much we need Him. And He calls us to do that in a position of rest - not so we can do nothing, but so that we can realize that only as He equips us will we do anything at all. If we can get to that point, then we are ready to start serving. Until then, we're just struggling.

Rest in Him today, and see your service transformed by dependence.