What's the position of your heart?

A final post on Rest...


Rest.  It’s more than physical.  It’s more than emotional. 

It’s goes, deeper.  It’s a position of the heart.

It’s spiritual.

Psalm 91:1-2 says this:

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” 

All throughout the psalms and throughout scriptures there is reference to God being our rest, our fortress and the one we find safety and comfort in.

So I wonder…Can we even know true rest without knowing God the Father?

One of the biggest profits in America is the market is comfort.  We continually buy whatever products and devices allow more "rest" in our lives.  (And make no mistake, I am the first to fall in line for this :)

I have visited other countries and even lived in two different countries and the go-go-go mentality doesn’t seem to manifest anywhere like I have experienced in America.

If you are not achieving, performing, making something of yourself, than what are doing? 

What do you have to show for yourself?   

This isn’t to say there’s not a place for working hard and pushing yourself to the limit for this is another great quality of Americans, but I think often we don’t understand the power of working from rest rather than resting from burnout.   

We have gadgets, devices, and treatments to de-stress us and allow us to rest, but I think we have forgot who first designed rest.

In Genesis 2:2-4 in The Message translation it says…

By the seventh day God had finished his work.  On the seventh day he rested from all his work.  God blessed the seventh day.  He made it a Holy Day because on that day he rested from his work, all the creating God had done. 

It was God who purposed us for a day of rest. 

It was Him who said rest is not only good but needed for us to function in a healthy way. 

No wonder we are so overweight, overworked, overstressed, and over, over, over it half the time.

Rest is a part of our DNA.  It’s how God has made us to function. 

To live from a place of rest and retreat and from that we work. 

Later in Isaiah it says God never tires or slumbers or sleeps.  I believe God didn’t need rest on the 7^th day but He was giving us a picture of how we are to live. 

God created us.  He knows what we need.  

He knows rest is for our good, for our best.  

Rest is positional.

A position of the heart. 

Ultimately, a position of coming under His dwelling, His security and His comfort. 

The reality is gadgets, devices, books, or other forms of “rest” can’t provide you with truly deep peace, joy, contentment that allows your heart to rest.

If you aren’t dealing with the emotions and tension in your heart, then true rest is non-existent.

It's under His dwelling, He meets you. 

He meets your questions. Your pain.  Your joy.  Your desires.  Your hurt.  Your dreams. 

That doesn’t necessarily mean all the answers will be solved, but He, being the source of life, meets you there and allows clarity and comfort into every emotion.

You can bandied all day long the physical and emotional symptoms of an unrestful heart, but without Him coming in and breaking through to the emotions shifting around in your heart, then true rest will never settle your heart.  

What’s the position of your heart today?