From the Pastor

God of Rest

August is a weird month. We think of it as the last month when you can rest, and enjoy an empty(ish) calendar before the post-Labor Day chaos begins. But it can quickly become the last chance to get everything done. The month to squeeze that last ounce of rest and joy out of the summer, while at the same time using August as a month to get ready for the fall. We try and do everything all at once; rest and work, relaxation and preparation all at the same time.

How does God use August? What does He say about this struggle between rest and work, empty calendars and full schedules? If it was just an August problem, it might not be a worth talking about, but the struggle with rest is one we wrestle with constantly throughout our lives. God knew the issue of rest would be vital to our relationship with Him and all of creation so He built rest into His perfectly ordered creation in the very beginning.

And on the seventh day God finished His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all His work that He had done in creation. (Gen. 2:2-3)

This is not God needing a break because He was tired, this is our all-loving, all-knowing God placing rest into His creation for the benefit of His creation. Think about it. Even before sin entered the world, in the perfect very-goodness of creation, God created everything with rest as a part of His desired design. When we look at rest, and the last month of summer, in this light, we could go so far as to say that rest is an integral part of our relationship with God and those He places before us.

Yet, we often struggle with how to rest. How did Jesus rest? “And after Jesus had dismissed the crowd, He went up on the mountain to pray” (Mark 6:46). Jesus had just provided 5,000+ people with more than enough food, both physically and spiritually, then He rested and He took that rest with His heavenly Father. Jesus found a quiet place where He could talk with the Father and ask Him for the good rest He knew was needed.

From Jesus’ example, we see that a proper rest is a rest with God. This has to happen more than just on Sunday. We should build this rest into the routines and habits of our day-to-day lives. In Matthew 11:28 Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  A proper, Creator-God given, Son of God exemplified, rest is one where we come to God. It is a time that we curl up with the Word of God and hear Him speak to us. It is a time when you climb to the top of a mountain or sit on the back porch and tell your Father God about your day. It is a time when you walk on the greenway and cry your heart out to the Shepherd who always listens.

So, August is a month of rest, as is every month, because as God’s people, we are a people of rest. In the business of your life, don’t forget to take a break with your rest-giving God.

Your resting brother in Christ,
Pastor Zach Sarrault