Thursday, March 31, 2011

Rest in Work

We all know that life is work. It is action. We are always on the move, both on the outside and on the inside. When the author of the epistle to the Hebrews says we ought to enter God’s rest he evidently isn’t talking about idleness. This is by the way the only “ought to” left in our lives after we became God’s. So what is this rest we are to enter into?


“God’s rest isn’t rest from work….. it is rest in work”, Norman Grubb so masterly put it. We are resting when we have the sufficiency to do the work. Unrest or strain is to do something from a position of insufficiency. In this not so insignificant difference lies the freedom to be who we are created to be!


Our God is a God of action. Joyfully He runs the universe. He has the sufficiency to do so. In us God also is a God of action. Life is action, movement, change of seasons. We are caught in the middle of this creative life force. When we are caught by God there is no escape. He won’t let us go. He has stuck Himself to us. Isn’t that wonderful!


A state of insufficiency or unrest occurs when we become self-centered in our outlook. My life, my status, my position, my money and so on – we can make the list endlessly long. That really wears us out. However, God won’t let us be there forever. Only until we have learned our lesson. Our greatest problem is perhaps all those expectations laid upon us by others. It is impossible to live out our life from the inside when we are burdened down by faulty expectations on how to run our life and what to do.


To work from sufficiency is to have more than enough to do the job. There is an undertow of joy in everything you undertake. Your special gifts and talents are in action. Your dreams are being realized to such an extent that you have to rub your eyes in utter amazement. That is rest! That is God in action in your life. Take heed of yourself; respect your desires and dreams. Let everything God has put on your inside have leeway. Allow your uniqueness to shine!


Norman Grubb concluded, “So ‘rest’ is adequacy in action….it’s inside action.”


(Both quotes by Norman Grubb are from The Meaning of Life, pages 50-51)

2 comments:

sparrow girl said...

Ole,

Wow, that's a beautiful truth! The idea of "rest" doesn't mean inactivity but having all sufficiency from Him within, so the activity just flows. Would that be what you mean?

I think I have always had trouble thinking of how activity fits into the grace walk. What you said here makes so much spiritual sense.

Thank you for sharing!

In Christ,
Sparrow

Unknown said...

Yes, you are right on :) The activity just flows and we simply live! Thanks for your wonderful comment!