Rest?
Yes, rest! There is a rest that can give you the most out of each day and out of each night sleep. And this rest goes beyond just relaxing. The fact is we can do all the right things for our bodies to be healthy, eat right, exercise, get plenty of sleep, etc, but if we do not learn how to deal with the stresses of everyday life it will affect our immune systems and ultimately our health.
The question is how can we get rid of our stresses. We are bombarded with different stresses every day. But I believe there are some stresses that we can eliminate. I don’t know what those might be for you. Maybe you have a very stressful job that you need to eliminate. How about the news, maybe you need to eliminate it. There are always some things that we can control. We are bombarded with so many negative things that bring stress and we don’t need to fill our minds with those things.
But the question is what about the things we can’t eliminate. At that point, it boils down to trust. And I am talking about trust in Whom, not what. I am not talking about trusting in you, that is the worst kind of stress you can bring on yourself. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give your REST. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find REST unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” Matthew 11:28-30. Now there is some serious rest. We need to be yoked up with Christ. As we lay our burdens on Him, He will carry them for us. And we need to trust Him with our burdens and quit taking them back.
While Resting
There is a difference between physical sleep and the rest that Jesus wants to give us. We should sleep a certain amount of hours every 24 hours. But resting in Christ should be 24/7. There are so many things that take place when we are resting in Christ.
The growth that takes place in our spiritual life is best accomplished when we are resting. As we rest in Christ in all circumstances healing begins to take place in our spiritual life. The toxins of our past begin to evaporate and repairs take place.
Now we can’t just rest in Jesus. We need to be doing all the foundational things that I have already talked about in previous writings. We need to be feeding ourselves wholesome spiritual food, reading God’s Word being the best option. Exercising our spiritual muscles by memorizing God’s Word helps us in time of temptation, especially when we are struggling with resting in Christ. And most of all, we need to make sure that we are “breathing deeply” (praying). These are foundational for getting the rest we need in Christ.
Our spiritual immune systems can’t even begin to keep up with the toxins of this world. And the repairs, if we are bombarding our spiritual life with things that our poisons to us, will never be accomplished. We can’t avoid or control everything we are subjected to every day in this world but we need to control what we can. Evaluate your life and make sure that you are not poisoning your spiritual life with the choices that you are making. We can’t get proper spiritual rest when we are filled with toxins and poisons.
Preparing for proper rest
It is so important what we put into our spiritual life. And we are not going to be able to rest properly if we are putting in the wrong things. Just like it is good to eliminate bad foods for our physical health, we need to eliminate bad reading material. We should not be filling our minds with things that do not uplift us spiritually or draw us away from God. Most of us know deep within our hearts that we cannot have proper spiritual rest if we filling our minds with ungodly things.
There is another factor that can affect our spiritual health and whether we can rest properly. How much time do you spend in God’s Word compared to other material? There are many wonderful foods that we can eat for our physical body. But when we eat too much at night too close to going to bed it affects whether we get proper rest. I believe it works the same for our spiritual life.
There are many writings out there that are good and wholesome. But as we are approaching “night” (Christ coming) we need to make sure that we are “eating” less of the good wholesome writings and more of God’s Word if we are going to be able to have proper rest through the darkness of night. We need to know God’s Word so well that when we no longer have it to read it will be hidden in our hearts to bring us through the night in restful peace.
More Factors
For proper physical sleep, we need to have a room that is void of all artificial light so that we have total darkness. But for proper spiritual rest, we need something a little different. We do need to have our lives void of any “artificial light”. But we do not want any darkness in our spiritual lives. Proper rest for our spiritual lives we need to be void of all “artificial light” and filled with the light that comes from God. God’s light will shine in all the corners of our lives and sees all the dark corners that need to be eliminated with His truth. And when we are filled with His light we get the proper spiritual rest we need.
Now some people may think I am crazy on this next point but I have seen the results in my own life. There are studies that show that we have to be off our electronics 1-2 hours before going to bed to get proper rest. It is best if you are going to read before going to bed to read an actual book. I believe this it is true spiritually as well. Now don’t get me wrong I think electronics have helped us in many ways when it comes to studying God’s Word, in one sense. But I also believe it has been a hindrance.
I thought it was really great when I got a smartphone. I could carry my Bible with me everywhere. But I started to use it all the time instead of opening up my Bible. What I found started to happen is that when I did pick up my Bible I couldn’t remember where to find the books of the Bible. As “night” is drawing near, I think we need to be more in the Word in its natural state. There is something about picking up that sacred Book and holding it in our hands and actually reading from its pages. I believe we can rest better. What screens do to our brain compared to just picking up a book is profound. We can rest better physically as well as spiritually if we pick up the actual books and read them.
Helpers
God has given us things in nature that we can do that can help calm us or relax us so that we can get good physical rest but what about spiritual rest. What are the helpers that we can use?
Believe it or not when our bodies are in the physical condition that God would have us to be in it actually helps us with our spiritual rest as well. So it is very important for us to be following God’s health plan. And even if we are eating all the things that God has made for us to eat but there is one of those food items that our body can’t handle we need to eliminate it. We live in a degenerate world. And because of that some of us may have sensitivities to some foods that we need to eliminate. When we feel good physically it is amazing how much that affects our spiritual life. And the same is true when our spiritual life is where it should be it affects our physical life.
Resting in Christ is really a choice. No one can force us. And it takes faith in the One Who created us, trusting that He knows what is best for us. “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” 1Peter 5:7.
Reading the promises that God has for us can be a helper in resting in Him. A really good book in the Bible to use for this is Proverbs. The great thing about Proverbs is that it has 31 chapters. Now take that book and read one chapter each day of the month, matching up the day of the month with the chapter. Some months you will just read through 30 chapters and other months 31 chapters. You can either read it just before going to bed or in the morning. Better yet read the chapter twice in the day, once in the morning and once before going to bed. After a while, you will have the book of Proverbs memorized. Proverbs is full of wisdom, instruction, and comfort.
Getting out in God’s nature can help us rest in Him. When we see the birds of the air and how they are filled with joy we see God at work. Look at the flowers and how beautiful God has made them and how they still give off their beauty even in a storm. Nature is God’s remedy for our physical as well as our spiritual lives.
Dear Father,
Thank You for being there for us. And for being Someone we can rely on in every situation. Thank You that we can rest in You if we so choose. You are the only One that can give us rest.
Thank You for Your patience with us. Continue to guide us through our lives.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
No matter what your circumstances give all to Christ and let Him carry it. You can find rest in Him only when you realize Your weakness without Him.
What do you do that helps you rest in Christ? Please share below.
This is part 8 in a several part series “Maintaining Healthy Immune Function”. There are many things I will be sharing with you on how to support your immune system, both physically and spiritually. Although what I am sharing is not exhaustive, I am sharing just a taste from my own experience. In part 7 I talked about how important proper physical rest is and how it helps us maintain healthy immune function. Coming up in part 9 I will be talking about toxic load. We are bombarded with toxins every day and our bodies can become overwhelmed. What can we do to help reduce toxic load so that we can “Maintain Healthy Immune Function”? Stay tuned!