In the Bible, the Son of God often called His disciples to spend time alone with Him (Mk. 6:31), and He is still calling.
In our busy and distracted world, it’s more important than ever that we give ourselves time to rest in His presence.
Resting is good for us. It’s part of God’s design to restore our hearts.
Rest is so important that God built it into creation (Gen. 2:2–3). He set the seventh day apart as holy—a day to rest and not work.
There’s something about daily life that makes this hard to do. As believers, we all need to find time for worship, Scripture study, and prayer, but our culture wants to keep us busy and distracted.
And yet, the Lord beckons us to come away (Song 2:10). He invites us to rest and journey with Him, to go somewhere that we might not in our daily lives—even if we are seeking Him regularly.
Hebrews 4:11 says we are to “strive to enter” God’s rest (ESV). This may sound strange—how can you strive, and yet be at rest? Aren’t they opposite?
What this scripture is saying is that rest isn’t natural. We have to work against our culture and our flesh to enter the place of rest. It won’t happen unless we pursue it, unless we make a priority of setting apart time to commune with the Lord.
The good thing is the Bible tells us the Lord “is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6), so He will help us do this.
Taking time to be with God—on a daily, weekly, and even longer basis—is something He’ll reward. Spending a few days at a conference or retreat can inspire us to live wholeheartedly for God when we’re back in daily life.
We can receive rich deposits of knowledge, intimacy, and God’s love by seeking Him in a focused, intentional way. He wants to take us deeper!
