Working to Rest

“Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.”—Hebrews 4:11

Have you thought of this verse as an oxymoron? How can we strive to enter rest? That doesn’t seem to make any sense!

But if you’ve ever tried to stop your busy life in order to rest, you’ll know what I mean. It takes work to not work!

When your life is going at maximum speed, expect it to take some time to slow down. Instead of slamming on the brakes, we can gently ease into rest by reorienting our identity, values and perspective.

Striving to Enter God’s Rest Requires Reorientation in Identity

When we work ourselves tireless without end or stopping, we are treating our bodies as if they were unlimited resources. We stay up late and get up early, hoping to squeeze in an extra hour of work, willingly sacrificing the sleep our bodies need to function at optimal level.

While this may look noble or even admirable on the outside, it betrays a fundamental flaw at the heart level. It believes that we, like God, do not need to slumber or sleep (Psalm 121:3, 4).

But that is not how God has made us. We are designed to be dependent, not independent. And when we try to live like we are otherwise, we run into trouble because we are denying how God made us.

I remember realizing this as a younger mother when I was deep in burnout, up to my eyeballs in home, homeschooling, and a jam-packed ministry schedule. I was guilty of finding my identity in my activity.

But because I did not honor my human limits, I eventually hit a wall because I was exhausted. Finally, I remember the day when I cried out to God in desperation. I wanted out.

In His kindness, God reminded me that I was trying to replace Him as sovereign in my life. I was blind in my attempt to control. I was foolishly striving to replace Him as my King. My identity was misplaced.

Rest comes not only through sleep. It comes when we are released from heavy burdens. And that is exactly what He did as I humbled myself in confession and repentance (Matt. 11:28-30).

Striving to Enter God’s Rest Requires Reorientation in Value

In our society, rest is often viewed as a luxury or at worst, a necessary evil. Busyness is the badge of the successful. I confess to almost feeling a touch of shame when I tell people I take a day off every week to rest. You too?

But that is not the way God views rest. In Genesis 2:1-3, we see God resting, not because He is tired, but as a way to celebrate the completion of His work of creation. And in Psalm 127:2, the psalmist even tells us that sleep is God’s gift to his beloved people.

Unfortunately, as with many things, the fall has turned things upside down. Sin has warped our entire value system so that we call what is meant to be good evil and what is evil good.

In my own life, I must confess that I have had to reorient my mind to value rest and receive it from the Lord as it was meant to be. One of the ways I have done this is to make transitioning from work to rest each day and each week special through daily bedtime routines and weekly reflection times with God. These help make rest a blessing to anticipate.

Striving to Enter God’s Rest Requires Reorientation in Perspective

But what helped me most came when I remembered the bigger Story.

Though God finished his work in seven days, it was just the beginning of Adam and Eve’s work (Gen. 1:28; 2:5). This assignment was given before the fall in Genesis 3, which suggests work is not meant to be a punishment for sin. It will be made harder and we will idolize it (again turning things around), but work itself is good.

Knowing this tendency, God explicitly sets out in the fourth commandment the pattern of working for six days and resting on the seventh, mimicking the creation week (Ex. 20:8-11). For His people, this created a rhythm of work and rest each week. Additionally, they were to rest with annual celebrations described in Leviticus. Even the land was to rest every seven years! (Lev. 25:3-7)

Unfortunately—and not surprisingly—they did not obey, and the penalty was stiff. Sabbath breakers were executed (Num. 15:32-36). As a nation, they were sent into Babylon in exile for seventy years for their sins, including ignoring God’s command to rest (2 Chr. 36:20-21). All these should give us a sense of how important the Sabbath is to the Lord.

But as always, as humans, we tend to swing to extremes. Perhaps the Pharisees did not want a repeat of the exile, so they idolized the Sabbath.

Jesus corrects them there as well. He is the Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8) and reminds them that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). And above all, the Sabbath is not about keeping laws but doing good (Matt. 12:12).

While He was on earth, that is exactly what He did—even on the Sabbath. His greatest work, was dying in our place for our sins. When He completed that work, He said, “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

Jesus died the day before the Sabbath. He finished his work—and He rested in the tomb of Joseph.

He arose from the tomb on Sunday, ushering in a new era. Jesus has finished his work. Now it is time to continue it until He comes again—with rest for us as well. This is the rest of Hebrews 4 we are striving for.

Until that day, we labor diligently, harvesting more souls for Christ (Matt. 9:35-38) by making disciples (Matt. 28:18-20).

What Does This Mean Today?

True, there are no New Testament commands to follow a Sabbath rule. However, if we remember that the Sabbath is a way we express our love to God and neighbor by stopping what we do to recall His resurrection, to refresh and revitalize our souls with worship, and to be reminded of our task, then we should strive to keep it.

For there is a Sabbath rest to come for the people of God (Heb. 4:9). That day has not yet come. But it will.

This brings us back full circle. Until then, we are to strive to enter that rest, as Heb. 4:11 calls us. This is more than just a day off to sleep in, catch brunch with friends, or watch sports on TV.

It is a day to remind ourselves that a permanent and complete rest is coming, when not only God has finished our work, but we have as well.

On that day, we will enter our final rest for all eternity. Until then, we work and rest rhythmically. Resting every seven days is not only refreshing for the body but rejuvenating for the spirit, as we remember where we are going and who we are serving.

How can you and I incorporate this pattern of rest as we anticipate the final rest to come?