Finding Rest

You know what us humans are really great at? Overthinking. Overreacting. Getting stressed out over EVERYTHING. Keeping ourselves ‘busy’. By “us humans”, I mean me. I am am a very “overthinking-overreacting-stressed-busybody” type of guy. I think that I am correct in thinking that I’m not the only “overthinking-overreacting-stressed-busybody”. We always get so caught up in life. We’re always trying to control everything, almost like it’s our job to make ourselves happy (if that’s my goal, I’m failing). I just feel like we think too much sometimes — and you’re hearing this from someone who overthinks everything, always. We’ve heard and said it a billion times, “God is in control”, like a white girl saying “live, laugh, love”, we use it way too often. When I say we use it way too often, I don’t mean we should slow down. No, I don’t think we say it enough; however, what good does saying it do if we aren’t confident when we say it? When saying something along the lines of, “God is in control”, we have to believe it. God is not at work in our lives right now, for He has already done the work. The transition from leaving a blessed season and entering a difficult one is not something we ought to view as, “God is going to help me”, but “God has already helped me”.

Something that has been on my mind the past few months is this verse: Exodus 14:14, which states, “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent” (ESV). This verse has been a faithful reminder, and something I think of on a day-to-day basis. It is hard to just give up the striving to someone else. Especially men. There is something us men love about getting stuff done ourselves and seeing the benefit of our work. However, we need to keep in mind that the work has already been done. What you are worrying about right now, whether something huge, or something small, it is not worth the worrying, overthinking, overreacting, and stressing. God is outside of time, therefore we ought not to worry about what comes next, because as long as Jesus is there, we should not be fazed. Just a little reminder that the Bible tells us that when we are with Jesus, it is then that we find rest. Matthew 11:28-30 states, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (ESV). The other day, I was listening to a sermon by my boi Judah Smith, and he used an awesome imagery when explaining the relationship between us and the yoke. Here is what he said — or at least something close to it, “back in Bible times, people who were looking to get livestock (to wear the yoke, for working in the field) would spend a great amount of money on a big strong ox, but then spend little money on a weaker, smaller ox. The reason for this is that, when the yoke is on the two oxen, the work they do is combined. And since the stronger ox’s work is more superior, it would force the weaker ox have to do the same amount of work, therefore, they were getting a steal (paying less for the best work). Like the oxen, we are the weak one and God is the strong one. When we are with Him, then we are strong”. When I heard this, I was like, “ooohhh so that’s what that verse means”. It suddenly made sense to me. I realized that, in order to truly put my trust in Him, I have to be close to Him. As I thought about it some more, I started to think that when I struggle with trusting Jesus, that is usually in those seasons of life where I don’t feel as close to the Lord as maybe I would like to be.

So, with all of that being said, just know that when you don’t feel so close to the Lord, remember that one, He isn’t far. He is there with you, hoping you will realize how lost you are without Him, yet because of His unmerited favor, He doesn’t think twice about welcoming you back to Him. Secondly, He cares about even the smallest of things on your mind. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Because of the cross, Jesus carried our burdens. Why should we worry if He had the final word? Lastly, when we are with Him, we are well rested and strong in who He is. Recently, I have been yearning to find rest. Not just “chill and maybe take a nap” type of rest, but true rest. I knew that Jesus is true rest, and that we cannot find true rest without Him, but I never realized the fact that when we lay our burdens on Him, then we will find true rest. The past like, maybe two days, I started to try and change the way I view rest, and started to strive to rest (yes, that is an oxymoron, but it is Biblical. See Hebrews 4:11), and boy have I felt more rested and “not-stressed” than ever. Thank you Jesus, for the rest you offer.

-Jak Hilsher