REST | March 2 - 8

I used to think that rest was related to sleep. It was something that was earned after working hard through the day and followed the expending of most of my energy. Rest was what happened when I just couldn’t push myself any further. The purpose of rest was to get sufficiently recharged so more work and productivity could happen.

The result of this in my life was that I could never get enough rest to meet the ever-increasing demands I would place on myself. Instead of rest, I was restless. It’s something I still struggle with today. And this restlessness can’t be resolved by one good night of sleep or a few days of vacation. It takes more than willpower or simple changes to the calendar.

Looking at the words of Jesus in the passage, we see that rest isn’t something earned, it’s something that is given. Rest is a gift that Jesus gives to us as we come to him with the weariness and burdens of our lives. He meets us in our restlessness and offers us Himself as rest.

Jesus invites us to stop striving in an effort to earn rest and instead receive the rest that only he can give. His is a rest that is not fleeting or shallow. It is secure and deep and life-giving. To be with Jesus is to experience this kind of rest for our souls and discover that what he offers is enough for us.

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READ

Slowly read through the passages offered. How do they relate to the reflection? What is Spirit revealing through them?

Matthew 11:28-30

REFLECT

Invite the Holy Spirit into your reflections and welcome the voice of Jesus to help you answer these questions.

1.  How have I been living as if there is not enough Rest?

2.  What unhealthy attachments do I have to the limitations being revealed

Acknowledge and process this with Jesus and ask him to help you release that attachment.

RESPOND

Using the guided prompts, take time to respond in confession. In repentance how can you turn towards God and others?

Choose a new way.

Jesus, I confess that I have been trying to operate out of my own resource of rest and choose instead to live in dependence on your provision.

I resist the lie that limitations are curses and choose instead to receive them as means of grace to bring me closer to you.

RECEIVE

Take time to listen to the voice of Jesus and receive his mercy and grace. Help open my eyes to see how you are providing rest in my life?

Thank you, Jesus, for your provision.

FAST

As a way of living into your repentance and resisting the idea of scarcity of rest, this week consider fasting from something that is productive but pushes beyond restful margin and practice instead doing something life-giving and joyful.