Rest is an oft neglected aspect of life. We live in a fast-paced world, filled with expectations and obligations to varying degrees that demand our attention and effort. Life brings with it various commitments. School. Church. Work. Family. Relationships. Added to that, we live in an age obsessed with career advancement, normalising regularly working extra hours each week. Workaholism has morphed into an acceptable and even expected work ethic. With this pace of life, rest easily becomes secondary. Chances are, it has for you, too.
In such a world, it isn’t only helpful but crucial that we hear what God has to say about rest. After all, the Bible addresses it on many occasions. Using some of those below, I’m going to present a theology of rest.
1. The Biblical Pattern of Rest
We see God resting on the seventh day of creation (Genesis 2:3). After creating all things and calling them good, God rests.
Now, it is important to clarify something here. God doesn’t rest because he’s tired. He doesn’t need to rejuvenate his strength. He is God almighty, incapable of growing faint or weary (Isaiah 40:28). What, then, does it mean that he rested? The Hebrew word shabat used here mainly communicates the cessation of work. Thus, God doesn’t need a break. After blessing all that he’d made, the work of creating was complete.
God establishes a pattern of rest.
It is on this basis that the Sabbath day is given as a day of rest (Exodus 20:8-11). Though we do not observe the Jewish Sabbath as it has found its fulfilment in Christ, God establishes a pattern and theology of rest. This is very much worth retaining, a day of rest. We see a rhythm of working six days and resting on the seventh. Though not for purposes of keeping the sabbath law, resting at least one out of the seven days a week is a good and biblical pattern.
2. An Acknowledgement of Our Finitude
Rest is an acknowledgement of our finiteness. Finiteness means that, naturally, as human beings, we have considerable limitations. There is only so much we can do. Our physical, mental, and emotional capacities are not unlimited. We are creatures. Finite.
Resting acknowledges our limitations; that we’re creatures.
You see, the only one who is infinite is our God. This is the Creator-creature distinction, a crucial piece of theology for thinking about rest. While we as creatures have limitations, God does not. We get tired, he is inexhaustible (Isaiah 40:28). While we need to replenish our strength, God never grows weak. You and I need sleep, yet God never sleeps (Psalm 121:4). While we can only obtain and retain a limited amount of knowledge, God knows all things (1 John 3:20). His understanding is beyond measure (Psalms 147:5). He is the only infinite one.
Now, our sinfulness doesn’t respond well to finiteness. We often try, even in subconscious ways, to work against this Creator-creature distinction, imagining ourselves to be like the infinite God. This sin is as old as the Garden of Eden. Not resting is one of the ways we do this. But regardless of how hard we attempt to live as though we aren’t finite, it’s inescapable.
Resting, on the other hand, acknowledges our limitations; that we’re creatures. Therefore, we need adequate cessation from work.
3. Good Stewardship of the Body
Our body is something God has given to us. Therefore, it isn’t ours. A proper view of our bodies sees them as something God expects us to steward. So, as much as possible, we should take care of our bodies. One way we can do this is by providing them with adequate and consistent rest.
Denying ourselves and our bodies rest, especially for long periods of time, opens us up to countless complications. Knowingly and actively doing this is to fail at stewarding this earthly vessel, entrusted to you by God. Let us thus be good stewards of the bodies God has given us by giving ourselves the opportunity to rest.
4. Correcting the Idolatry of Work and Productivity
Among the many idols of our age, work and productivity stand tall. Of course, work isn’t sinful. It’s God-ordained. Productivity is not a bad thing either. Nevertheless, as is typical of human beings, we idolise the good things that God gives us. So work has been put on a pedestal, functionally taking the place of God for many.
Our attitude towards rest is not just of physical benefit but also of spiritual profit.
But work is a cruel god, with exacting demands. It’s never satisfied with the time and effort we turn in. Work also leaves little room for other good gifts: family and friends; recreational activities; church community; and, of course, rest itself.
We should never to be so bound to any activity that we cannot rest from it regularly. Not even work. If anything consumes us to the point that we cannot set it down, it is an idol. Our attitude towards rest is not just of physical benefit but also of spiritual profit, as it can reveal our heart’s idols.
5. Rest As an Act of Trust
Rest also is an act of trust. A resistance to rest arises from anxiety over letting things go. One can fear that when they rest, things will fall apart. We can have this feeling that we have to constantly be on top; otherwise, if we leave them be to rest, they’ll crumble.
We need not be anxious. We can rest.
Through rest, we demonstrate trust in God. When we rest, we affirm that God is sovereign; he is the Lord who holds all things. By resting, we’re saying that we trust God to take care of stuff while we don’t. It is an acknowledgement that it isn’t your busyness or activity that keeps you, but it is God who does so. In resting, we trust that the God who loves us and knows our needs even before we ask for them will take care of us, despite inactivity. We need not be anxious. We can rest.
6. Rest Points Us to God
Finally, in the milieu of all our activities, it’s possible to forget what’s most important: God. We can get so lost in activity that we don’t pause to think of our wonderful God; meditate on him; and relish his goodness or grace. We can get so lost in activities that we neglect the means of grace that make him more known to us: prayer, reading God’s word, and the fellowship of believers.
In the milieu of all our activities it’s possible to forget what’s most important.
Through rest, our physical, mental, and emotional strengths are replenished and we can be more capable to focus on the Lord. Through rest, we can look away from the gains of our labour and focus on the pearl of great price. Rest helps us shift our focus from created things back to the Creator God. It provides opportunity to pause and consider God. So, dear saint, rest. Rest and let it be a means through which you find rest in him.
