We often think of resting as the opposite of being active. It’s no surprise that it’s one of the last things that comes to mind when we think of things we can “do” to sharpen our spiritual hearing. Rest, however, is a quiet but essential weapon in our spiritual warfare arsenal.
When we are “reborn” spiritually, we are tasked with one thing: to grow in Christ. My 7-week-old son reminds me that growth in the natural typically looks like rest. Infants and children sleep way more than adults for one reason: they are growing. We also sleep more in the natural when we are trying to heal. Why, then, does rest not match our image of spiritual growth?
Rest has become our reward when we have done all else. Instead, rest was made to fuel the work ahead. Corporately, God has been speaking rest and recovery over the church; not because we are supposed to be less active but because He is shifting us for this season from a posture of doing and creating to being and receiving. In the “tyranny of the urgent” we have starved ourselves of what is best in order to keep bustling around doing what is good. As we, with great trust, place all that “has to be done” in the hands of the Lord, what we find is that while the rest is important, what follows the rest is vital.
Biblically, rest pops up several times, and all of them are very active times for the Lord. God is on the move! We see how in Genesis 2 rest was used to create. God put man to sleep to create woman. What is God preparing to create from you as He tells you to rest? Rest was full of dreams for Joseph and Jacob and many more. This rest was vital for revelation. Whether or not your revelation comes in the form of a dream, resting is vital to receiving! What directional words or identity words is God waiting to speak to you as you slow down and rest in Him? Even Jesus was recorded sleeping … right before He calmed the storm. You can rest. Your storm is about to be spoken to.
In what ways is God calling you to physically slow down and sit with Him more? In what ways is He calling you to rest your spirit and soak up revelation? Seek the Lord today on what rest looks like for you this season. Rest may just be the breakthrough you — and everyone the Lord intends to touch through you — are waiting on. {eoa}
Sara Whitten is the author of Uncommon Vessels, as well as a speaker, equipper, and founder of Arrows of Zion Ministry. She and her husband are pastors for the youth of Impact Christian Fellowship in Kerrville, Texas. Sara is a prophetic writer who is featured on the Elijah List, Spirit Fuel, Charisma and more. She hosts Hear God Every Day on the Charisma Podcast Network, a podcast with tools to help amplify the voice of God amidst the noise of everyday life.
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