Rest My Child

I have been hearing a lot about 'rest'. At first I didn't really understand why. Resting seemed simple, yet so complex when you break it down. I mean, according to the world, what does rest really mean?

I polled a few people that I know personally to see what they thought it meant in their own words. One person described rest to be Emptiness (to empty one's head and allow any thoughts to come in instead of directing them); Letting go of control; Release; Recharge. Another said that resting means sleeping; clearing one's mind from life's thoughts and focus on God's glory; a state of mind. A college student at Ball State University in Indiana believes rest to be stopping everything; forgetting everything; and taking a break. The Online Webster's Dictionary defined rest to be Freedom from activity; Stay the same; Sleep, somber, or death.

But I wondered what God considered to be rest when He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” Mark 6:31.

Does God really want me to stop everything? What about people in ministry (which technically should be all of us)? Should they pause their duties? What then would the church do?

God has been telling me for the past few months to rest. But as most know, I was in Mercy Ministries, and resting completely wasn't much of an option. I had things I had to do, assignments that needed to be finished. God, what exactly are you wanting me to do then?

I know it may be simple, but God was asking two different things from me when He said, and I quote, "You're going to be able to learn to press forward, and how you can move forward, and how you can embrace all the things I am speaking that are truth, but at he same time really walk in a place of rest."

What?!

But hang on, He clears things up in a second. He then told me, "Because, daughter, rest is really not about how much you're doing, it's really about the attitude of your heart."

So, by the definition we are taught by the world, rest is about what you are and are not doing. But God says it has nothing to do with that. It makes sense to me, now, why I was so exhausted and overwhelmed. I was trying to hold things in place, while God was trying to move them. All He wanted me to do was shift my attitude from a worldly perspective, to His.