Rest: Another Great Exchange
The gift of rest for our souls.
Sticky Note: Rest is when we can walk into Jesus' open arms with our burdens and anxieties in exchange for His soul-nourishing rest.
I can only imagine seeing Jesus with His arms stretched wide open in anticipation of the readiness of His people to lay their burdens down at His feet. Yet, many skip out on His rest as if it were leg day in the gym.
I’ve heard many sermons and podcasts on the subject of rest. Pastors have imparted wisdom for the ages around the realities of busyness and burnout. As I considered the subject in preparation for this article, I desired to deconstruct what I have heard, learned, and adopted for a fresh idea. To me, the ability to find rest for your soul is in the discipline to implement this posture as a life skill to reap the spiritual benefits that tag along with believing faith.
In the faith journey, rest is often treated as optional or a spiritual luxury to be pursued when time allows or stress demands. If I look at the man in the mirror, I see that it was previously deployed in my life as a practice of “self-care” or a recommended task. But biblically, rest is not a suggestion or a temporary strategy; it is an invitation (1 Peter 5:6-7) to the instruction of Jesus Christ to cast our burdens.
Peter the Apostle writes it like this in 1 Peter 5:6-7:
Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you."
Peter preaches that to receive the care we need for our anxiety, we must humble ourselves under God's mighty hand (power). By doing so, we are in a position to be lifted by Him to cast everything on Him. I mean, He wants our anxiety? Interesting….
So my fresh idea is biblical, leading to a newfound understanding that “Rest” is a life skill we need to learn to implement daily.
Ministers must know that rest is also a life skill—a learned, habitual posture of the soul that responds to God’s invitation to care. It is a discipline, but more than that, it is an intentional way of living. However, this life skill is not merely ethical but also theological and redemptive. In simple terms, it is only possible because of the completed work of Christ.
In Hebrews 4:9-10
“There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God; for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.”
Stay with me, now….Rest is not merely a spiritual discipline to be cultivated as often touted, but must be strengthened. Rest is a posture at its core: willing submission without internal emotional resistance to the complete trust in God’s known care. This thought hit me like a Muay Tai elbow. I started connecting the dots. The doctor is responsible for my annual physical exam. The optometrist is responsible for my eye exam. The dentist is responsible for my oral care.
However, I had no idea I was missing this life skill of going to Jesus for His care because I never asked the question: “Who is responsible for my anxiety and heavy burdens?” Why? Maybe I had resistance because I did not know how to trust God with my anxiety. I learned that when we resist rest, we are not simply refusing peace; we are resisting God’s lordship over our time, our anxieties, and ultimately, our souls.
I believe Peter is inviting us into God's presence. I like his language of casting. It’s an action word. When I was in the financial industry years ago, I would train my clients to transfer their risk to financial institutions. There was a risk of dying prematurely, a life-threatening illness, or living too long. I guided them to a plan because all three cost money. It is a willful act of transferring the burden to the care institution of God.
Listen to the invitation of Jesus. It’s the best invite you have ever seen.
Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
One thing to note: When Jesus says to come, it’s an invitation of peace and rest. At the cross, Jesus declared, “It is finished” (John 19:30). His work secured our peace. I want you to have peace while working to accomplish something with your life. But remember that we do not rest because our work is done. We rest because His work is done.
Almost done…
I discovered that I am not at rest if I am engineering my life. As a driver and planner, I had to make a hard switch to give that part of me to the Lord for His guidance. Managing my whole life became an internal burden as I was always in the future. Of course, I needed rest galore. But was it rest?
Eh…
I call it false rest. We drift into false rest when we withhold submission and attempt to manage life ourselves. This often takes the form of escapism, overachievement, or avoidance. These are nothing but counterfeit expressions that offer temporary relief but ultimately lead to burnout.
Tell your neighbor:
"False rest is peace without presence, relief without trust, and rhythm without redemption.” -Brentley Wright
Scripture is clear: to refuse rest is to refuse trust. As Hebrews warns, “They were not able to enter God’s rest because of unbelief” (Heb. 3:19). Resistance to rest reveals resistance to faith.
Alright, I’m done. Let me close this….
Rest is more than a good habit. It is the renewal outcome of trusting Jesus. If developed as a life skill, it will be both a discipline and a delight. It is a life skill with an eternal garden that cultivates fruit of humility, deep dependence, and roots us in Christ’s finished work.
Rest is not something we find. It is something we receive as Jesus gives it. No one else can or has the capacity.
“Come to me,” Jesus still says, “and I will give you rest.”
Reflect:
What would “casting your cares” look like in your life today?
Go to Jesus!
-BW
Beautiful