It is almost Summer again. The weather is getting warmer. Students are graduating or preparing for the final few weeks of school. People are preparing for vacations and camps and Vacation Bible School. Life seems to be slower when it comes to the summer. Despite it feeling slower, it may not feel like rest.
How many times do we come home from a vacation and feel more tired and overwhelmed than before we left? How many times does the joy of graduation or transitioning into a new season of life lead to worries and anxieties about the future or feelings of sadness and loss about the past? All of the things we rely on for rest can sometimes fall short and we are left longing for a rest that is more substantial.
We see time and time again in Scripture that God has designed us to need rest. From the very beginning in Genesis, God shows us the importance of rest by resting on the 7th day in the creation story (Genesis 2: 2-3). He commanded the Israelites to regularly observe a day of rest, just as He did (Leviticus 23:3).
On this side of the cross, Jesus has given us the gift of rest in Himself. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He is the rest that we are seeking – more so than a relaxing vacation or sleeping in on the weekends. In Jesus we find love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22), and through a relationship with Him we can bear these fruit in our life.
As the seasons change, Jesus is always there. Let us seek rest in Him and find hope that the One who can make all things new loves us more than we could ever imagine.
Written by Evan Pergrim