We hit the middle of February sleeping in our lounge with half our clothes stored in black bags in the garage. No, this wasn’t some sort of catastrophic event; it was just a holiday break taken over by home renovations. We were supposed to have a good summer holiday: three whole weeks in January. Then one project led to another… and somehow we didn’t get any rest.

We Long for Rest

Life is busy, many of us are under pressure to get things done. There’s always washing to fold or another email to send. We look forward to the evening, the weekend, the holiday, with a kind of desperation. We hope that a break will cure us of our weakness and frailty in the face of the mountains of work ahead of us.

God didn’t make us to work all the time. From the very beginning, God set a pattern of work and rest. He worked to create the universe for six days, then on the seventh day:

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. (Genesis 2:2–3)

This pattern of working six days and resting on the seventh was instituted for the Israelites as the Sabbath in the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:8–11). Human beings were not created to ceremonially observe the Sabbath, Jesus taught, but it was created for human beings. More, he declared himself to be the Lord of the Sabbath (Mk 2:27–8). Jesus himself rested, even when there were other things he could be doing (Mk 1: 35–37; 4:35–39; 6:30–34).

Rest Is Hard to Come By

This morning I tried (with mixed success) to empty the dishwasher while I ate my breakfast and made a grocery list. With all our various responsibilities it can feel negligent, even impossible, to take time away for rest. I empathise so much with busy Martha in Luke chapter 10 verse 40. I’ve skimmed productivity books and listened to time management podcasts while doing the dishes, but somehow I feel I’m always saying no to valuable commitments and letting people down—and I still haven’t had a break!

Rest Can Be Disappointing

Sometimes the time we set aside for rest can make us more tired than when we started. We set our hopes on something bringing us refreshment and then it doesn’t hit the spot like we hoped—a family holiday gone awry or an early night turned sleepless night. We cannot control our circumstances, especially in a fallen world.

Even Jesus didn’t get perfect rest in this world. In each of the passages quoted above, Jesus’ rest is interrupted. We can bring our exasperated souls to him and find a faithful high priest who can empathise with us (Heb 2:17–18; 4:14–16; 5:7–10). More than that, he has the ability to do something about it.

Rest for Your Soul

There are lots of different kinds of godly rest; all have their place. Sometimes you need a nap or brunch with an old friend. Sometimes you take a trip to the beach and the salt water, fresh air and sun on your skin revives your heart. But when push comes to shove, there’s one type of rest we need, and that’s rest with our Lord Jesus:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28–30)

 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

In the times where we haven’t had the physical rest we need, we can have confidence that Christ’s power will rest on us. This doesn’t mean we won’t ever need to stop, or that we don’t need to re-evaluate our workloads. What it does mean is that we can turn to Christ and receive his strength and power, ultimately for our salvation, but also for the everyday good works that he has prepared for us to do (Eph 2:10). Little by little, these moments of reframing our hearts to know the strength of Christ frees us from the burden of disappointing rest.

Perfect Rest Is Coming

When life is hard and we feel like we can’t get off the hamster wheel, we can hold on to the hope that, one day soon, we will experience perfect rest. Christ is coming. And when he comes, we will enter into his perfect rest. No disappointment, no interruptions:

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; or anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:9–10)

[T]hey are before the throne of God
    and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
    will shelter them with his presence.
Never again will they hunger;
    never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,
    nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne
    will be their shepherd;
he will lead them to springs of living water.
    And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. (Revelation 7:15–17)

Then, just like God rested after the work of creating, when everything was very good, so too will we be able to enter into this Sabbath-rest. There will be no more holidays gone haywire, just the enjoyment of all that is good and right in the presence of Jesus. That’s a rest worth looking forward to.