“The promise of entering God’s rest still stands and it is through the gift of faith, not the sweat of work, that we enter his unique rest. Therefore, let’s strive to enter that rest—and reenter it time and again when we lose or leave it.” (Paraphrase of Hebrews 4:1-3, 9-11).
Lord Jesus, you don’t just commend rest, you command it. And tonight, I’ll get all hooked up to electrodes and monitors at a sleep study center to discover to what extent I sleep, nap, or “noddle” my way through the night. REM-less sleep is like oxygen-less breathing—that doesn’t end up too well.
But sleep apnea is one thing; “life apnea” is another. Not getting enough grace into our hearts is WAY worse than not getting enough oxygen to our brains. That’s why you tell us to strive to enter the rest of the Gospel: To strain to not strain. To stay restless till we rest fully in you—for the first or 117th time.
There’s no greater rest than to know you are at peace with us, Jesus—to be certain you are resting in your love towards us and rejoicing over us with loud singing (Zeph.3:17). Indeed, Sabbath isn’t just a wonderful day; it’s you as our only and perfect Savior. So why are we restless—or even rest-averse?
We are legalists and performers to the core—allergic to grace, addicted to earning, and plagued with unbelief. Rescue us, Jesus. Some of us have gotten so used to living a busy, driven, cluttered life we are clueless about any form of rest. Rescue us, Jesus.
Some of us have no clue, and no set of electrodes and monitors can diagnose us. But your Word, Spirit, really good friends—and maybe a spiritual director or gifted counselor can help us. Humble us, Jesus, so we’ll get the help we need. So Very Amen.
