Pursuing God's RestSample

Rest Destroys Stress

Jesus came to be our savior! This we know, but save us from what? He came to save us from eternal separation from God the Father because keeping all the laws of God was impossible. The people were tired, frustrated and burdened by the law and Jesus came to free them from this burden. To be work conscious leaves little room for God or rest consciousness and that opens the door wide for stress to enter in, because now instead of enlisting the help of God we have the whole burden of making our plans work on our limited wisdom and knowledge. 

We can see God’s heart throughout the scriptures for rest for his people. He prepared a beautiful garden for Adam and Eve to take care of (work) and in the cool of the day God came down and fellowshipped with them (rest). (Genesis 2:2 NIV). God took the Israelites out of Egypt (hard work) to the wilderness with hopes to take them into Canaan, a place prepared for them (rest). It has always been God’s heart for his people to find rest in the midst of all the work.

Jimmy Winner, M.D says, “Stress isn’t just in your head” It’s a built in-physiologic response to a threat. When you’re stressed your body responds. Your blood vessels constrict. Your blood pressure and pulse rise. You breathe faster. Your bloodstream is flooded with hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. When you’re chronically stressed, those physiologic changes, over time, can lead to health problems.” 

There are many benefits to rest, and I pray that we will all seek God to pursue his rest. Here are just a few benefits of rest:

• Gives time for energy levels to return
• Give time to contemplate problems
• The body can save energy during rest
• Produce more in less time – (Frederick Taylor a management consultant sought to      improve industrial efficiency through rest)

In Dr. Caroline Leaf’s book, Who Switched off My Brain, she states: 

“If you don’t build relaxation into your lifestyle you will become a less effective thinker, defeating your ability to accomplish the mental tasks that stole your relaxation in the first place. In fact, for the brain to function like it should, it needs to regroup/consolidation time. If it doesn’t get this, it will send out signals in the form of high-level stress hormones, some of which are epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol. If these chemicals constantly flow, they create a “white noise” effect that increases anxiety and blocks clear thinking and the processing of information.” 

I know it’s hard to grasp the thought that if I rest, I can produce more but that is the amazing supernatural work of God at work when we adhere to his principles. I pray you would weigh what hangs in the balance for your future, your health, your family and your very own life and today I declare you will pursue God’s rest!