Rest | Daily Devotion
“You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11 NKJV
Jesus would purposefully withdraw from the crowds of people and go sit with God alone – Matthew 14:23. There, sitting with God, Jesus would receive rest and direction. Today, if you look at people and really watch them, you can spot in a crowd the Christian who’s sat in God’s presence. How? By their demeanor. Look at the way they carry themselves; you’ll see a quiet confidence. They are confident that God is taking care of them – Philippians 4:19. Listen to how they talk. It’s encouraging and edifying, not negative, crude, or disrespectful. For out of the heart the mouth speaks – Luke 6:45, and their heart is focused on God. You can tell they’ve been with Jesus. They are set apart and anointed due to their abiding in His presence.
When you sit in God’s presence, do you notice a change in your demeanor? Are you able to handle the situations before you calmly?
Do you experience a peace that surpasses understanding?
Do you notice whether you experience psychological strength amidst adversity? It doesn’t mean you won’t experience negative emotion – we are human and there are negative experiences – it means we don’t remain down.
Have you noticed that when you don’t have rest, when people are constantly pulling on you not respecting your boundaries, exhausting you – it’s more difficult to think logically, emotions are heightened and you’re easily triggered over menial issues that otherwise would not bother you? That’s a tactic of Satan – deprivation. Sleep deprivation. Rest deprivation. Selfish people do not give rest to others. Satan is behind every selfish person. Selfish people will keep taking if they are receiving. Narcissistic people are very selfish. It is all about them receiving what they want and they do not care about the cost on you – their grandiose sense of self overlooks the very real truth that you are a child of God and God cares about you.
There is a reason why God commands us to honor the Sabbath day, to honor the day of rest where we seek God and spend time in His presence – it is here where we become more like Jesus.
And this is what Satan doesn’t want to happen, thus his evil is behind selfishness that keeps people from resting and becoming more like Jesus Christ.
We know Satan always has to ask God before he does anything to us. We also know God always gives us a leg up on Satan by way of His commands given to us, so that Satan’s subtle tactics do not draw us away from Jesus Christ.
Therefore, we need to see God’s command to honor the Sabbath day as a boundary, protecting us from Satan who wants us exhausted and less like Jesus Christ. This command tells us God wants us to have a break from selfish people who are idolatrous, as their continual selfishness and fixation on us does draw our eyes to ourselves as we are constantly trying to figure out how to take our life back – free from their controlling selfish grip.
This command tells us that God wants our mind free from the burdens that make it difficult for us to think clearly and make wise decisions.
This command tells us God knows exactly what our whole person needs to be successful here on earth enjoying the abundant life.
We live in a very selfish world that feels entitled to us and lacks respecting boundaries. It may be blind pride in people, a blind oblivion so to speak in immaturity, or malicious intent. Nevertheless, in countless ways, Satan seeks to pull us away from rest and honoring the Sabbath day because he knows it deteriorates our psychosocial well-being – our spiritual well-being, physical well-being, psychological well-being, and our social well-being. For a lack of rest, a lack of focus on Jesus Christ weakens our spirit, psyche, physical body and heightens interpersonal issues socially – causing greater issues in our life.
In contrast to the selfish world, we see Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30 NLT, saying, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
The love of Jesus Christ gives us rest. He knows what we need. His yoke is tailor made for us to carry with His strength supporting us. When He says, “Let me teach you,” He is drawing us away from the world system that exhausts us. The world system that wants to teach us and shape us – without our permission – it wants to control us so much so our life is no longer our own and we are a mold of what we hate and despise, while so desiring our old life and how we used to be. Thus, when Jesus says, “Come to Me… let Me teach you,” He is saying turn away from that world system that exhausts you and does not respect you, that world system that is filled with legalistic expectations that show to not love you and turn to Me, the Savior of your souls. Let Me teach you. Take My words to heart, let My words guide your steps and nourish your minds filling them with wisdom, so you will love your life experiencing the needed rest for your souls.
Jesus’ humility is what really sets Him apart as He teaches us. It is the pride in the world that exhausts us and takes over our lives. While with Jesus we become more of who we were created to be and we love it. His gentleness is needed in a harsh world, as is what He calls us to – we need that purpose in our lives to experience fulfillment – that joy – that satisfaction. We live with no regrets.
When we recognize we are God’s personal concern and we come to Him and cast our cares upon Him– 1 Peter 5:7, and it’s here where we experience His love and rest. It’s the very act of laying our burdens at the foot of the throne of our gracious God to receive His mercy when we need it the most—Hebrews 4:16.
For it’s difficult to rest when we are carrying burdens, and when we are stressed or battling anxiety. What I love about Jesus is He doesn’t make our life more difficult out of jealousy – there is no personal agenda. He alleviates our difficulties because He is love. He takes the burdens, as He is all knowledgeable, knowing we carry many. Jesus is not disconnected from our everyday reality, He is ever present with perfect knowledge and perfect love.
Will you pray with me?
Abba, thank You for Jesus Christ who calls us to Himself. Thank You for the ability to pray without ceasing – that constant casting of cares upon You. We have perfect provision in the Trinity and we praise You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.