Is My Heart God's Resting Place?

"This is what the Lord says: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?" Isaiah 66:1

God is looking for men and women who hear and obey when He speaks, who follow the truth He reveals, and have a sweet, holy desire to please Him. For such as these, the Powerful One will validate their lives because they know Him and have learned His ways. These lives will have God's holy seal of approval. These lives become the holy dwelling places of God which He can bless with Himself in a special way.

Is God's dwelling in your heart undisturbed? What about when the window of your parked vehicle is smashed and everything of value is taken? Does God want to rest in your heart then? What about when a child or friend is making a wrong choice? Does He want your heart to be His resting place then? What about when your job of twenty years is suddenly terminated or when your loved one is diagnosed with cancer? Does your heart rest in Him then?

How can it be? Our rest is in the Person who made all things, circumstances, people, and places. This kind of rest is bigger than physical relaxation or absence of labor. It is not just "getting away." This rest is "as you are going" wherever God has called you. In Exodus 33:14, God says, "I will go with you and give you rest... in the midst." This rest is an exchange of our frenzy, frustration, hurry, care, and anxiety for all the Spirit of Jesus, His strength and unruffled peace. It is all of God, manifesting all of Himself, in all the details, showing Himself strong in spite of our weakness, pressures, or circumstances. Rest is all of Him manifesting Himself.

The world would give you methods for psyching yourself up for peace of mind, but the real thing comes from the Person of Jesus, the Prince of Peace Himself.

In the Old Testament, one of the Hebrew words for rest is nuah. It means absence of activity or movement, being settled in a particular place with finality, victory, security, or salvation. Rest is in God alone (Psalm 62:1-2, 5; 116:7). It is a gift from God (1 Kings 8:56). God promises rest from the enemies called sorrow and suffering, turmoil and trouble, hard service and cruel bondage (Isaiah 14:3). Nevertheless, God warned that continued rest depended on their obedience (Numbers 32:15, Isaiah 28:12, Psalm 95:11). Continuing in God's undisturbed composure requires that we keep our spirits and souls stayed on Him.

Another word for rest means to repose, to end, to observe the Sabbath, to cause to rest, to bring to completion. When God rested from creation, He did not stop because He was tired, but because His work of creation was complete. God ultimately accomplished true rest for His people through Messiah to make for Himself a glorious name (Isaiah 11:10, 63:14). The fulfillment of this is expressed in Hebrews 3:7-4:13. This Greek word for rest means to cease, refresh, rest, give intermission from labor. This passage speaks of entering into God's rest. Christ's rest is His completion on the cross of all the work needed for us to enter into His victory and grace, because all our spirit, our will, heart, imagination, and conscience (our total being) is centered in His perfect work. This is rest to be enjoyed in fellowship with the Father and the Son. This rest is the rest of God Himself in our spirits and hearts, based on relationship with Him.

God has the keys to His perfect rest. We must first cease striving in the energy of the flesh (Psalm 46:10-11). Get a fresh glimpse of His love and authority to live in harmony with the Father. When you struggle, acknowledge it and repent, "The dove of the Spirit is not resting undisturbed on my spirit, my heart, my soul, my mind, will, and emotions." When we trust, we have the rest of Jesus by entering into it. Jesus provided a key when He said, "Learn of me, and you will find rest for your soul." He did not say learn facts about Me, but learn Me, learn My ways, learn to receive from Me. Let Perfect Rest, the Lord of glory Himself, live uncontested in you and transform you by living His life through your spirit, from the inside out. Talk to him often about it, until you hear the dove of the Spirit, saying "You are my beloved son or daughter. I am well pleased with you." God is seeking such intimacy and unhindered communion that He is the explanation for all our life, because we don't depart from a conscious sense of His presence permeating us. This is "tabernacling" where the Spirit of God abides.

Do you long to be the resting place of God? God is longing to give you rest of spirit, soul, and body as you abide in His rest.