Rest is harder to find in a digital culture because technology has dissolved the two fundamental boundaries that are essential to rest: solitude and silence.
– John Koessler in The Radical Pursuit of Rest
The wrath of God was satisfied with the suffering and death of Jesus. The holy curse against sin was fully absorbed. The obedience of Christ was completed to the fullest measure. The price of forgiveness was totally paid. The righteousness of God was completely vindicated. All that was left to accomplish was the public declaration of God’s endorsement. This he gave by raising Jesus from the dead.
Embracing a rhythm of rest means seeing God as sufficient and letting go of your own claim to that attribute.
Men will never worship God with a sincere heart, or be roused to fear and obey him with sufficient zeal, until they properly understand how much they are indebted to his mercy.
God never sleeps. God has been alert, fully functioning, and perfectly attentive for every single nanosecond of history. What’s more, not sleeping has never caused him to become anything less than perfect for even a moment. I get grumpy and irritable when I have to wake up half an hour early; God has never slept, yet remains utterly flawless.
We are busy because we try to do too many things. We do too many things because we say yes to too many people. We say yes to all these people because we want them to like us and we fear their disapproval.
The willingness to lie down and sleep is itself an expression of trust in the sovereign hand of God.
The psalmist tells us we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” We were knit together in our mother’s womb by the delicate hands of God. Our bodies are not amorphous lumps that we shape and sculpt into our own self-image – they are diving gifts, given to us by God himself.