Come Unto Me
Where do we find rest, peace, and satisfaction?
“I just want rest.” This is a statement I’ve started to say more and more. Maybe you feel the same way. Life is difficult. Life is difficult emotionally. Maybe you feel alone. Maybe you feel like you are never enough for other people. Maybe you feel like the stress of work or school is too much. Maybe you always feel like a burden to the people around you. Maybe you feel like things are moving too fast. Maybe you feel like you have no hope for the future. Maybe you feel like all of your relationships are falling in on themselves. Maybe you feel unloved. Life is also difficult spiritually. Our sins are heavy. We strive to be holy and righteous, but we struggle so much to reach the standard that God sets for us and even the standard we set for ourselves. Paul reflects this struggle in Romans 7 when he writes, “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Rom. 7:14-15). The burden of sin falls in on us and we simply cannot bear it. “I just want rest”.
What follows our desire for rest comes one of the saddest expressions one can utter. “Does anyone care about me?”. As humans, we crave relationship. When those relationships are not present and our emotional needs are not being met, we often question if anyone cares. We question why anyone would care about us. We can be tempted to say, “look at what I have done. How could anyone care about someone like me?” Does anyone care?
Oftentimes we desire to brush our needs under the rug as if they do not matter. We don’t want to burden other people, we feel embarrassed, or we feel like we do not have the time to address those needs. This is an unhealthy way to view ourselves. We all want our needs to be met. We want to be happy. We want rest. We want someone to care. The questions then arise; where do we go to have our needs met, where do we go to find happiness and rest, where do we go to find satisfaction, and is there really someone who cares?
There is a natural inclination within us to look at our own achievements as the means by which we find satisfaction and rest. Will we truly find satisfaction this way? Consider what the Ecclesiastes writes in Ecclesiastes chapter two:
Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me. All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor. Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun (Ecc. 2:9-11).
If it is true that Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes then these words are being written by a man who achieved more than anyone has ever achieved. Yet, Solomon in all his riches and achievements, despaired in the agony of his vanity. If we attempt to satisfy our needs by looking to ourselves, we will be found wanting. We must look outside of ourselves.
In the attempt to look outside of ourselves for peace, satisfaction, and happiness we naturally look to our family and friends to satisfy those needs. When we have emotional or spiritual pain we look to our friends or family for comfort. This is a good thing. This is the purpose of friends and family. Eve was taken from the side of Adam because it was “not good for man to be alone”. (Gen. 2:18). Paul tells us to, “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). However, it must be acknowledged that friends and family can hurt you. In most cases this is unintentional, but it hurts no less. We should lean on our friends and family for rest, peace, and happiness, but it would be mistake to believe that they can satisfy every need that you have. While friends and family can and should bring joy, they cannot bring fullness of joy, they cannot bring a peace that surpasses understanding, and they cannot bring everlasting rest.
As Christians we often find comfort in our church family. This is a good thing. The church was designed by God, in part, so that we can support each other through trials and difficulties in our lives. The church should care about the physical, mental, and the spiritual health of the whole body. While God does use the church as a way to comfort us and to bring joy, you don’t need to be a part of the body long to realize that sometimes members of the church let you down. The church is filled with human beings that sometimes fail you. There is only one who will always be there and can satisfy every need.
Where can we find rest? Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come unto Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” We find rest, peace, and joy in Christ. Jesus cares for us and wants us to find comfort and peace in Him. Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would be the prince of peace and that the peace He provides will be unending (Is. 9:6-7). Do you want rest? Do you want peace? Do you want joy? Come to Jesus. Jesus and Jesus alone is able to provide for every need that we have. In John 15, Jesus teaches that He is the vine and that we are the branches who should be bearing fruit. John records that Jesus says, “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (Jn 15:11). Jesus tells us if we live like Him and keep His commandments, the joy that is within Jesus will be within us. This is a joy that is evident regardless of our circumstances and the suffering that we may go through. Jesus is the way to enjoy rest, peace, and joy.
I encourage you to read and pray through Psalm 23 in light of the New Testament teachings of Jesus providing rest.
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and faithfulness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Praise God for His goodness and His faithfulness that permeates the very fabric of our lives. May God continue to shepherd His people and bless them with peace, rest, and joy.