Dear church,

It is possible to be ambitious and hungry for success and still have a quiet, resting heart. Not all restlessness is the bad kind. A disobedient Israel was destined to receive the bad kind of restlessness – the kind that screams out for some kind of peace but does not receive it. 

We might picture this better as hell itself. “And among these nations you shall find no respite, and there shall be no resting place for the sole of your foot, but the Lord will give you there a trembling heart and failing eyes and a languishing soul.”

How different from the promise all people are given in Jesus Christ. “Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28-30). He is the antidote to the bad and hopeless kind of restlessness. 

From the beginning of God’s creation to the end, rest has been the goal. The seventh-day Sabbath rest of God was broken by the sin of humanity. And we are aiming toward an eternal rest in Christ (Hebrews 4:1). 

Is your soul at rest? You might be a busy person, but that does not mean you need to lack the eternal kind of peace and rest that marks a mature Christian. 

The key to our eternal rest is our coming to Jesus in faith. His Holy Spirit then fills us and empowers us to keep his commandments. In the keeping of those commands, we find peace. 

Chris