Promised Rest for God’s People

Hebrews 4:3 at the end talks about entering God’s rest. When I first read it, it immediately struck me that this rest is synonymous with the peace that surpasses all understanding referred to in Philippians 4:6-7.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT).

A secondary thought led me to think of it as Heaven or the afterlife. Of course, they are both God’s rest, but we don’t have to wait to die to enter God’s rest. God’s rest can begin as soon as we are willing to turn our lives over to Him, to draw near to Him, and to make time for a relationship with Him! I’ve found this to be true in my life. The more I fill my life with God, the more peaceful I become.

How to Find Peace?

So, you might wonder how to get to this place of peace. I’ve found that taking regular time out to read the Bible and pray, seek God out, trust Him, pray in every situation, and make Him the centre on which you base all decisions is a good road map to this peace. When you do these things, you end up living and breathing God in every moment of your life, and peace is the by-product!

I think that the above might seem like a tall order, particularly for folks who are new to faith. However, you can just start small, start out praying about one decision. Read the Word for a few minutes every second day. After that, it just grows and grows until you reach the point where you are always consulting God on every decision, thinking about Him when you wake up and when you go to sleep. He starts to consume your thoughts, and the more He does, the more peace you have.

Your spiritual enemy will try to tell you this is too hard, too confusing, and foolish, but don’t listen to him. He’s a liar and a thief who is out to steal the joy from your life (John 10:10). Talk back to him and tell him that you won’t listen to his lies.

“Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” Luke 10:19 (ESV).

You have been given the power to defeat your spiritual enemy. Christ suffered and died so that you wouldn’t have to believe those lies and fall under your spiritual enemy’s authority anymore. Refuse to listen to the enemy and trust God.  Have faith in your heavenly father, who loves you!

Hebrews mentions several times not to “harden your hearts” toward God. As situations come up in life, choose to react or behave in the way you know God is calling you to, and your life will be filled with God’s peace.

Father God, how can we ever thank You for the gift of peace and power over the enemy You have given us.  We can’t, but we can receive it, and by receiving it, we honour You and Your work in our lives. Thank you for these gifts, help us to use them well.