God’s Rest
“Therefore, let us fear lest, while a promise of entering His rest remains any of you should seem to have come short. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them because it was not united by faith in those who heard.” (Hebrews 4:1-2)
This should be good news to many people! There is a rest coming that we can enter into. You get a break from carpools, all-nighters, screaming kids and angry commuters. Don’t worry the rest is coming, but more than that, it’s already here! The kids and the traffic will not just disappear, but the rest can be yours.
Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Jesus is waiting; He desires to give you His rest. His rest does not make all the “stuff” go away, but when you come to Him in faith then the “stuff” is less of a headache, and you can take comfort in Him.
Jesus is there; the rest that you have been searching for is within your grasp, so why do you find it so hard to grasp? Faith, that’s the key! Do we have the faith that is required to get the rest that Jesus has? Let me read (type) the next few verses.
“For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, ‘AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST’, although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He has thus said somewhere concerning the seventh day, ‘AND GOD RESTED THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS’, and again in this passage, ‘THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.’ Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience. He again fixes a certain day, ‘Today’, saying through David after so long a time has been said before, ‘TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS’. For if Joshua had given them rest He would not have spoken of another day after that. There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:3-11)
This is in reference to the children of Israel who failed to enter the Promised Land. God led them through the desert, but they did not enter into Canaan. God did provide their needs as they wandered, but they were not allowed into the land flowing with milk and honey because they did not believe God could give it to them.
Numbers 14:22-23, “Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs, which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it.’
Faith is what kept the generation of Moses out of the Promised Land (God’s Rest), or I should say their lack of faith; or the fear that overwhelmed them as they listened to the 10 spies that brought back the reports of the giants that were in the land. This has always puzzled me because this generation had witnessed first- hand the mighty works of God; who had brought them out of Egypt, and now they were faced with a choice; were they going to believe the reports of the unbelieving spies or were they going to remember their past, and trust God to finish what He had promised. You probably know how the story ends, and because of their disbelief in God’s promise only Joshua and Caleb (the two believing spies) were allowed to enter into God’s rest.
I am not aware of your story, but as you read this I imagine there is a time that you can look back and say that if it were not for God you would have failed. Well, now you have a decision to make. God is calling you to His rest. Are you going to look back and remember what God has done, or are you going to look and see the “giants” in front of you and mistakenly believe that you must face them on your own.
God in His righteousness has provided all the rest that we will ever need. He provided the greatest rest we can have through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus!”
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Yes, You Can Ministry 