Rest in the Lord – learn 4 easy steps to enter His rest
Are you tired and weary? Is life hard? Do you feel overwhelmed?
Rest in the Lord
I have good news for you. Jesus will give you rest. In Matthew 11:28 Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (NLT) If your weighed down and anxious, no matter how good things might be you can’t enjoy life and the victory that is yours in Christ. You need to rest in the Lord. Resting in the Lord is a key to having victory every day.
True Rest Defined
Resting in the Lord doesn’t mean doing nothing. True rest in the Lord is not related to physical rest, but it is a spiritual rest. Most of the time when you’re feeling weary and tired it is not a physical matter, but a spiritual issue. Resting in the Lord means trusting the Lord and not our own abilities – it’s putting our faith in God and not us.
The Vines Expository Dictionary says, “rest” is not a “rest” from work, but in work, “not the rest of inactivity but of the harmonious working of all our faculties and affections, of will, heart, imagination, conscience, because each has found in God the ideal sphere for its satisfaction and development”. True rest means having peace even in the middle of the storm.
How to Rest – do these 4 things
1. Come to Jesus.
True rest not found in a nap or vacation, but it is only found in Jesus. Jesus said. “Come to me…” Jesus is personally inviting you “to come”. The invitation is for all who are weary and burdened and He’s promised to give “you rest”.
You not only need to come to Jesus to receive salvation, you need to come to Him regularly to receive the rest only He gives. Jesus never leaves us, but we often lose our awareness of Him. Coming to Jesus is abiding in the Lord and constantly being aware of His presence which then allows rest to manifest in our life.
2. Pray.
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made know to God ; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus“. (Philippians 4:6-7)
Worry and fear rob you of your faith and peace. Prayer is God’s prescription for dealing with all the anxieties of life that try to steal your peace. When you share your requests with the Lord great peace comes. Peace is the foundation of the rest Jesus gives.
3. Cast your cares on Jesus.
God did not design you to carry the burden of worry, fear, and anxiety. If you do you become overloaded and lose your victory. 1 Peter 5:7 commands us to, “cast all our care upon Him, for He cares for you.” Cast means to violently throw or fling.
Understand that whenever you are burdened with cares of the world, God wants to take that burden from you. Jesus cares for you so much and wants you to roll every one of those burdens over on Him and let them go. Don’t reel them back in. Cast your cares on the Lord.
4. Trust the Lord.
Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;” Trusting the Lord means you give up worrying, reasoning, and anxiety and choose to enter into His rest by faith. We live our life by faith and not by sight.
The main reason life remains hard and we don’t find rest is because we fail to truly trust the Lord. We keep holding on to the yokes and burdens of life instead of taking on His yoke and burden which are easy.
Why not come to Jesus today and allow Him to give you rest! It is a key to victory in life every day.