Rest for All Eternity

Does the promise of rest seem alluring to you but simultaneously impossible? When you think of taking a break, does your mind immediately flood with a hundred reasons why you can’t? In a world that tells you to “do it all,” humility calls you to rest as an act of faith.

After God created the world, Scripture tells us that he rested from his work. He did not stop because he was tired but to show us how to rest. In fact, he made our bodies in such a way that they cannot function without regular times of inactivity. But pride tempts us to ignore these natural rhythms. Pride tempts us to put our faith in our own willpower, passion, and physical endurance. Humility, in contrast, believes that God will care for us while we rest.

In many ways, the physical act of resting, of ceasing our work, is an act of trust. And in God’s wisdom, you must practice this spiritual discipline every night. Each night, you must lay your body down, close your eyes, and trust that the world will be safe without you. Each night, you must trust that God is God and you aren’t. Each night you must practice so that in practicing, he will make you perfect. As you learn to trust him enough to rest in this life, he is teaching you how to trust him for all eternity.

Hannah Anderson lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. She is the author of Made for More and Humble Roots: How Humility Grounds and Nourishes Your Soul (Moody). You can find more of her writing at sometimesalight.com, hear her on the weekly podcast Persuasion, or follow her on Twitter @sometimesalight.