Issue 36 Sabbath RestBlog | Rest, as an act of faith
Rest, as an act of faith
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 25.09.23
I have recently been thinking about a scripture that can be found in Luke 5. It documents an extraordinary moment in the ministry of Jesus. No, I am not referring to the feeding of the five thousand, or the healing of the woman with the issue of blood.
Luke tells us that Jesus would often withdraw to the wilderness to pray. I have, in recent times, as the load on my plate increased with work and life demands, found that scripture to be extraordinary. The words, which are found in verse 16 of chapter 5, demand a very simple reflection; how did he find the time?
Much of the context around Jesus withdrawing to a quiet place to pray feels very relevant to today’s reverse culture of rest. For starters, Jesus was a man on the move and very much in demand. If he was a Millennial in 2023, he would have millions and millions of followers on every social media platform going. Jesus was a man who people needed, and still need. He was feeding thousands, sitting at the well with just one, teaching the twelve, and yet he is telling us, through that scripture, that rest and conversation between himself and the Father was of the utmost priority. How does that sit with you, your work, your ministry and your life?
At the end of 2022, I preached a message to a congregation in north Hertfordshire. The sermon was called, ‘Mary’s Yes’. It focused on the power of the word ‘yes’ and what our Father can do with our ‘yes’.
As I carried that sermon in my heart into 2023, I realised that I may have missed something in that sermon. I had become so focused on saying ‘yes’, and doing, that I had forgotten about saying yes, and resting in him. It became quickly apparent that I was doing things in my own strength and might, and if I didn’t learn to work out of the sufficiency of Christ, burnout was on the approach.
As communicators of the Word of God, it can be so easy to rely on our knowledge of the Word. For those who have been preaching for several years, it can be easy to rely on our experience. It can also be easy to depend on the feedback we receive from the pews. However, unless we pivot and take up the practice of withdrawing frequently to our wilderness to pray, we run the risk of missing Christ, as we work for him. Rest is the moment when you find a still place and remind your soul that he is indeed the Lord.
It is important to note that Luke uses the word ‘frequently’. It means ‘habitually’. Rest should be put into practice and become part of our everyday lives. As we begin to put our quiet time into practice, we will depend on Jesus more. We will believe that he is our source, and he is sufficient, but it is something that needs to be done over and over again. If need be, schedule it. Schedule time for rest, schedule quiet time, schedule your moments away with the Lord to pray.
This is our act of faith, it is our simple way of downing tools and saying: ‘“Not by might, nor by power but by the Spirit” says the LORD’ (Zechariah 4:6). It remains important that we remind ourselves that the work we are doing is great. It is important, it matters. However, not as much as your relationship with the King. He is the reason we do what we do. In a world that is constantly on the move, in a culture that demands that we work and then die, in a society where the news feed and the demands of church tell us that everything is urgent and necessary, remember that Jesus, despite everything, frequently withdrew himself and rested.
