Sabbath, Living From RestSample

Living from Rest

As I move to the topic of a lifestyle of rest, I need to be transparent. I try to write from digested truth, that which the Lord has pressed into my life over time. What I am about to share is my newest adventure. But I share because I’m convinced though I’ve not fully attained.

Rest is a position.

The more I practice resting in God—the more I’m aware that rest originates from a position of rest in Him. All forms of rest (daily or weekly, spontaneous or seasonal) are really extensions of this position. Position is an eternal relationship provided by Jesus alone. As God’s children, we are invited to live from His massive heart of love in abandoned dependence—rest. God also has a position within us: At our invitation, He rests and reigns in our submitted hearts of love.

Understanding position has changed the way I think and pray. Throughout the day, I simply stop and intentionally lean into rest in the same way I might stop to take a drink of water when I’m thirsty. I remember who my Father is to me and who I am to Him, meditating on His complete provision for my present situation. I am immediately comforted and satisfied in the assurance that I am Papa’s precious child.

Rest is cumulative.

I used to say, “There is no rest for the weary.” As I have learned to esteem and guard rest, I have discovered that my rest reserve or well is beginning to fill. To my surprise I have accumulated rest from which to draw when I am not physically resting. Another way to describe this is I am learning to abide in Jesus. As my friend Kristen Ross beautifully summarizes, “Sabbath rest lets seeds germinate so that life shifts effortlessly. Rest breeds rest and life.”1 The more I practice rest, the more organically I live, move and have my being in God, My Rest.

Rest increases intimacy with God.

Best of all I’m finding more child-like trust and relational intimacy with God. The practice of physically stopping to rest in Him cultivates deeper awe and love for Him and increases my ability to accept and enjoy His expansive love for me. This intimacy is the reason I live.

Over these last days together we have explored many aspects of rest. As we part, let’s examine portions of Noah Webster’s original 1828 definition for rest.** How beautifully he summarizes its actions and attitudes.

REST, verb intransitive 

•  To cease from action or motion

•  To cease from labor, work or performance

•  To be quiet or still; to be undisturbed

•  To cease from war [within and without]; to be at peace

•  To be quiet or tranquil, as the mind; not to be agitated by fear, anxiety or other passion

•  To be calm or composed in mind; to enjoy peace of conscience

•  To lie, to repose

•  To lean; to recline for support, to be supported by

•  To be satisfied; to acquiesce

•  To lean; to trust; to rely

•  To continue fixed

•  To abide; to remain with

As I meditate on Webster’s definition, I see the opposite of rest could be work or business, but on a deeper level, it is self-sufficiency. We need God. Oh, how He sustains us completely! Living from rest is essentially living in peaceful dependance on Him in joyful abandon. The end of the matter is this: In Sabbath we draw life from Life.

For other YouVersion Bible plans and books by Susan Ekhoff, see YouVersion and Amazon. 

Footnotes

*Ross, Kristen Marie. "Choose Life Eating, Day 7. 

**Webster, Noah. American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828 (an indispensable biblically-based resource for wordsmiths of the English language).