There’s a very entertaining scene in the film ‘Mr. Bean’s Holiday’ that resonates with me and probably most of us. Bean is on a long drive in his classic Mini and he’s desperately trying to stay awake. He goes through all the typical methods like having the windows down, putting on loud music and slapping his own face, but then he resorts to more desperate measures like burning his finger on the cigarette lighter and finally he tries keeping his eyes open with matchsticks. I’m sure we’ve all been there while on a long drive. The reality, though, is that matchsticks don’t work. What you really need is to pull over at a ‘rest stop’ and get some sleep. Of course, to do so, you actually have to stop.
The same goes for enjoying the rest of God. Enjoying God’s rest involves stopping. The verb sabbath means ‘to cease’ and that’s what we need to do to enjoy God’s restorative rest. This isn’t rocket science, yet in our self-reliant and busy world, we can miss these obvious things. To take Jesus up on His invitation, we have to stop our frenetic activity and go to Him. If we press on with our activities, however important we think they may be, we’ll miss out on Christ’s invitation to enjoy rest. As He did for the disciples in Mark 6:3, Jesus invites us to step out of our lives for a moment and pause in His presence.
We saw in the first part of this series that God Himself enjoys rest, so it’s unsurprising that Jesus Christ stepped out of the busyness of His life to rest with His Father—and He invites others to do the same. When Jesus took these momentary pauses, He would often spend time listening to and talking with His Father (Luke 5:16, Mark 1:35). We’ve already seen how David encourages us to “pour out our hearts to God for He is our refuge” (Psalm 62:8). As we pause for a moment, God invites us to speak with Him, asking Him for rest and renewal. This doesn’t have to involve great effort or long hours of prayer. It can be a few simple words asking that God would lead us to still waters and refresh our souls (Psalm 23:2-3). It might help to pause in the midst of our activities and read a Psalm for a couple of minutes. These small momentary pauses can help us orient our hearts to God and be reminded of the strength and peace He supplies.
Taking in the View
Stopping to rest won’t just help us enjoy God’s rest, it will also help us to enjoy more of God. If you’ve ever driven along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, you’ll know how hard it is to keep your eyes on the road. Whenever I drive along it, I find I have one eye on the road and one eye on the view. The views out the side of the car are just so beautiful! But it’s a silly way to do it. If I really want to enjoy the view, I need to stop and get out of the car.
The same goes for God. If we’re always on the move, we’ll never get to appreciate God in all His wonder. For many of us, life slowed down during the lockdowns of these last two years. I found that slowing down meant I saw far more of the streets surrounding our apartment than I’d seen before. I noticed intriguing street art and pretty gardens. I’d walked past them before, I’d seen them before, but I’d never really noticed or appreciated them.
There are truths about God that we can know in the busy times, perhaps like the strength that He provides. But there are other truths that we may have to pause in order to really notice and appreciate, perhaps things like His patience. Not stopping to rest in God is like driving along the Great Ocean Road without ever stopping and getting out of the car; we’d miss so much of the beauty on offer.
The Gift of Rest
In this little series, we’ve seen that rest is something first enjoyed by God Himself and remarkably, it’s something He then invites us to enjoy with Him in His presence. Our God is a gracious God who knows our troubles. By giving us rest, He not only meets our needs but gives us a gift to delight in. Rest is a gift that we’ll be enjoying for eternity, yet it’s also something God is inviting us to experience today.
Let’s end by hearing those wonderful words of Christ–maybe you’d even like to read them aloud to yourself: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28-30).
Respond: If you’re weary, exhausted, or worn down by a burden too great, know that Christ is inviting you to lean on Him. In this very moment, why not try pausing? Perhaps spend a few moments reflecting on Christ’s invitation in Matthew 11:28-30 and ask Him that you’d know His rest.
Stephen Unwin is a writer and editor with Our Daily Bread Ministries. He has degrees in sound engineering and theology and is currently studying for a PhD on the theology of gift and gratitude. He’s married to Katy and they live in Melbourne, Australia.
