Everlasting Rest

2.24.11

That is why the Holy Spirit says,

“Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness. There your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for forty years.

So I was angry with them, and I said,

‘Their hearts always turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them. ‘

So in my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’” Hebrews 3:7 – 11


And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn’t it the people who disobeyed him? So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest. Hebrews 3:18 – 19

Be careful then, dear T. Make sure that your own heart is not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. Hebrews 3:12 – 14


I want to believe. I want to obey. I want to trust. I want to be patient. I want to enter Your REST.

Lord, please help me with these desires. I know you want to give me peace of mind all the days of my life. You want me to rest in Your mighty, but gentle arms.

I think all too often I try to control my life, and I consistently fail. I think I know what’s best for me, and I put my trust and hope in what is seen. But God says through Paul, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)

I know when I fix my eyes on the temporary – the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day ahead of me, a large student loan debt, the potential for a life without an earthly husband – there is very little hope, and left to my own devices, this is what I do. Eat junk food, browse the internet mindlessly, surf television channels. I may find satisfaction in the ½ batch of peanut butter cheerio treats or the Law and Order: SVU marathon, but the fulfillment certainly doesn’t last longer than the 30 minutes it takes to go back and forth to the kitchen to eat the dessert or the 6 hours of being a couch potato (Disclaimer:  The ridiculous quantity of cheerio treats and the all-day marathon have only happened ONCE.). Is this unbelief? Is God not faithful to His promises?

RATHER than focusing on my circumstances, which are temporary, and making poor choices in coping with them, why not follow God’s advice – FOCUS ON WHAT IS UNSEEN, THE ETERNAL. YES, I will have painful days BUT God says that suffering creates perseverance, character, and hope (Romans 5:3), and that I can find His REST…peace…in the midst of the pain (5:1). YES, I have a great amount of money to pay back to the U.S. Department of Education BUT God promises to richly provide for all my needs. Worrying about wealth (or the lack thereof), which is so uncertain (1 Timothy 6:17), will not bring me REST. Rather, I should focus on the God-given gifts that have been enhanced in graduate school because of the financial assistance, and use them well as I counsel God’s created. REST will come when I focus on the fact that God knows what I need more than I do. YES, I am currently single BUT God promises to those who walk blamelessly before Him and trust in Him not to withhold good things (Psalm 84:11-12). So even if am never united with a man, God only will have withheld marriage because it is not good for me, and He will use me for His eternal purposes as a single woman. I can REST in that.

Ultimately, I live by faith, not by sight (2 Corithians 5:7), knowing that God has an eternal house in heaven for me (5:1)…that the pain and suffering here on earth only last for but a moment (eternally speaking, of course). Rather than placing my hope in idols or useless time wasters (the temporary) to give me REST…peace…I desire to place my hope in God’s promise for me (the eternal). He is faithful. He will give me TRUE REST. Help my unbelief.



Be careful then, dear T. Make sure that your own heart is not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. Hebrews 3:12 – 14

“Unbelief means failing to rest in Jesus as your greatest treasure. So helping each other believe means showing people reasons why Jesus is more to be desired and trusted and loved than anything else.” John Piper