Give Yourself Permission to Rest: God Has.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.   Matthew 11:28-30

So much of the time we live out of tired, or the I should mentality.  We live weary or guilty and push ourselves to work.  If you grew up in a conservative home, then it’s likely that you have a list of rules to live by.  Maybe they are so burdensome that they feel as if they will crush you because they are impossible to keep.

Remember the law was given so that we could see how guilty that we were. It was not given so that we could do it.  By its very nature it is unable to be kept.  It’s a schoolmaster. It teaches that we are sinners through and through.  The news that Jesus came to save us from our sin is the hope that we have.  Every day, I see people who are weighed down by the beliefs that they were taught as children, or the ideals that they want to achieve,  but that’s not what Jesus is calling us to. 

Jesus sends an invitation,

“Come to me, everyone who works and is carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders, and I WILL give you rest.”

Rest…

Stop for just a moment and feel that word from head to toe and let it calm your weary heart.

Jesus did not come to leave you with a list of laws to live by. He came so that HE would fulfill the Law and GIVE you LIFE, abundant life. 

Think about it once more…

Rest

His invitation is to come to Him.  He wants us to run to Him so that He can give us rest.  Fascinatingly, this passage comes just after Jesus “rips out” the cities who had seen His works, but they chose to keep living by the law.  Before the invitation to rest, Jesus says that if Sodom had seen the things that these people had saw, then they would have repented.  Instantly, I hear, “I better change and work harder because Sodom would have repented. After all, Sodom is as bad as it gets.” I can hear the preacher’s voice in my mind, “Repentance is turning around from the wrong that is being done.”  These words put the responsibility FULLY upon the listener.  But I don’t believe that this is what Jesus was saying.  Let me explain.

The culture that Jesus lived in was the Jewish culture.  Remember, it was the culture where they brought the lady caught in adultery to Jesus, and His reproof was first to those who brought her.  These were men who thought that they were good because they were following the law.

This is the culture that Jesus reproved repeatedly, but His strong words were not to those sinning, rather they were to those who thought that they could act good enough to be righteous. My point is that these cities, He is condemning were not cities like Sodom where sin like we think of was the daily routine.  In these cities they wanted to follow the rules that God had given. This was the Jewish culture, which was one of washing to be ceremonially clean, eating the right things to be physically clean, doing the right things to be behaviorally clean.  Understanding that they were believing that they could keep the law, it seems to me that He was telling them to repent of their works. 

One of the biggest regrets that I have as a parent is telling my kids, constantly to “Do right,” which was at the expense of telling them to “Run to Jesus, so that He can give you delight and rest.” Or “Run to Jesus, He loves you so much He wants to give you a God hug.” Sadly, in my church this mentality was made fun of. I learned these things way too late in life. As I write to you, I want to be certain that the message is loud and clear, run to Jesus because he wants to give you rest.

When I think about the various issues that I help others work through like depression, anxiety, surviving trauma both in adulthood or childhood, I see many people pushing towards doing right, instead of resting in Jesus.  Every human has five elements that make them up.  They are physical,

emotional,

psychological,

social and

spiritual.

Rest is needed in all five areas.

I am always assessing which areas need to be strengthened and which ones are the strongest.  That’s the easy part, the most difficult thing for us to get past is the belief rest is deserved.  The individual must grant themselves permission to rest.  That can be a very difficult thing because...

·      Survivors of childhood abuse have subconsciously assumed that, if they had done everything right, the abuse would have stopped. This is a false belief.  The truth is nothing inside of the abused child could stop the abuse.  It was not the child who was guilty, it was the abuser.

·      Anxiety can become an issue because there is no way that we can work hard enough to keep the fearful event from occurring. To rest means to allow the event to fall as it will and trust that God has you.

·      Dan Allender states that the opposite of depression is play.  I want to show you how play brings rest. Let’s understand the brain better so that we can understand this.  

Neuroscience tells us that when the brain is in a state of flow then it is resting.  Remember when you were young, and you went to play?  Time stood still.  Nothing else mattered.  You were playing.  This is called a state of flow, which is a state when the brain rests.  As adults we play differently than as children.  Some adults play in their bullet journal, some on the beach throwing a football, some in their home decorating, some in the kitchen cooking. Maybe you play on your boat or motorcycle.  There are so many ways to play. Would you leave your way of playing in the comment section.  I would love to hear from you.

Unfortunately, when we begin to play then guilt may come, especially for Christians.  If we are enjoying something, then surely it is wrong. But rest is GOD’S WAY. Jesus calls us to run to Him so that He can give us rest.  

As I was reading the chapter of Matthew 11, when I got to the word repent, I thought, “Oh my goodness, I better start working to change the areas of my life that are sinful.” But a second thought about the context of time when Jesus lived tells me that it was likely not sin as I perceive it.  So run to Jesus, instead of relying on yourself, and please spend time strengthening the areas that are most weak. 

·      Physically that may mean taking a nap, getting more sleep at night or just sitting in a chair or on a swing to physically rest. It may mean going to play your favorite sport with friends.

·      Emotionally and psychologically, that may mean finding that place of play where all time is lost and simply enjoying or delighting in the thing in front of you. 

·      Socially, that may mean that finding close friends and hanging out, or if you are more introverted it may mean giving yourself permission to be alone so that you can recharge. 

·      Spiritually that mean taking ourselves to Jesus, running to Him, handing Him whatever the issue is and trusting that He will take care of it. Period. We don’t need to be concerned any longer because He has it. 

Some of us have no idea how to find a place of play, rest, or delight. If you were like me and grew up in a home where taking needs to parents was not the best option, then like me, you may need to think through how to find rest.

Sometimes, I suggest thinking through how an issue would be handled for a child. Perhaps, you have had a teacher or significant other who would hold your issues and help you. Consider how these people would handle the issue and help you.  Then nurture yourself.  Run to Jesus and hand your issue to Him. Whatever you do, find your ways to rest. Give yourself permission. God has already given you permission.

“Come to me, and I will give you rest,”  ~ Jesus.