I continue to be frustrated by the scripture in Hebrew 4:1-13 (TMB) that reads:
1 For as long, then, as that promise of resting in him pulls us on to God’s goal for us, we need to be careful that we’re not disqualified.
2 We received the same promises as those people in the wilderness, but the promises didn’t do them a bit of good because they didn’t receive the promises with faith.
3 If we believe, though, we’ll experience that state of resting. But not if we don’t have faith. Remember that God said, Exasperated, I vowed, “They’ll never get where they’re going, never be able to sit down and rest.” God made that vow, even though he’d finished his part before the foundation of the world.
4 Somewhere it’s written, “God rested the seventh day, having completed his work,”
5 but in this other text he says, “They’ll never be able to sit down and rest.”
6 So this promise has not yet been fulfilled. Those earlier ones never did get to the place of rest because they were disobedient.
7 God keeps renewing the promise and setting the date as today, just as he did in David’s psalm, centuries later than the original invitation: Today, please listen, don’t turn a deaf ear . . .
8 And so this is still a live promise. It wasn’t canceled at the time of Joshua; otherwise, God wouldn’t keep renewing the appointment for “today.”
9 The promise of “arrival” and “rest” is still there for God’s people.
10 God himself is at rest. And at the end of the journey we’ll surely rest with God.
11 So let’s keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out through some sort of disobedience.
12 God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. 13 Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word. We can’t get away from it–no matter what.
Why does a scripture about entering His rest frustrate me so?… I guess it is because I have not yet personally discovered His rest. Allow me, if you will, to write out loud my internal conflict. If God Himself is at rest and has already created heaven and earth. He has sent His son, Christ, and reclaimed the keys to death, hell and the grave. Christ took stripes on His back so we can receive His healing… It has already been done.
So, why do we continue to fight for something that has already been won? Why do I work so hard and put so much time into completing a work that was promised long before I was even gleam in my mother’s eye?
Sleepless nights consumed with uncompleted tasks and yet to begin projects cause a self inflicted bewilderment in my mind. Why can I not say “no?” What is it in me that feels the need to “make it happen”. I understand the command in Romans 12 to be “transformed by the renewing of my mind”.
It is often not the struggle of lust or greed or envy or strife. Rather it is the failing to rest in what He has already done. I am no better struggling with the neverending drive to complete, fulfill or defeat the enemy who has risen against us. Why are we fighting battles He has already won? Instead of this tug-of-war with our spiritual enemy, would it not benefit me to simply stop, quiet my spirit and rest in what my Heavenly Father has already done for me? If it is finished, why are we still fighting?
Shouldn’t I be rejoicing that Christ has returned with the keys to death, hell and the grave? Instead of spending so much time trying to anticipate the next attack of our enemy and waiting in a defensive, circle the wagons posture of constant guard, why can’t I just be still, quiet and grateful without feeling like I must always be in a battle?
I am sure Job often felt like giving up. Everything kept getting stripped away. Layer by layer, his life was reduced to Job, his wife and God. No amount of fighting would have saved his family. God had given the enemy permission. Job simply declared, “even if He killed me, I’d keep on hoping. I’d defend my innocence to the very end.” Job cried out to God and said, “Please, God, I have two requests; grant them so I’ll know I count with you: First, lay off the afflictions; the terror is too much for me. Second, address me directly so I can answer you, or let me speak and then you answer me. How many sins have been charged against me? Show me the list–how bad is it?” It sounds to me that Job was pretty frustrated. He probably had a few sleepless nights. In the end, Job did not defeat his enemies. God did. And it was said of Job that in all of his afflictions, he did not curse God.
I crave rest. Sleep. A mind that is at peace. I am not tormented with evil or negative thoughts. There are just way too many. At times, they crowd out my family, friends, conversations and the voice of God. I am still learning to quiet my spirit and be still before God and my family. I desire a humble and contrite heart. I do not want to be a warrior who is always in battle. If I could have my own desires, it would be to represent the God of peace that is referenced over 70 times in the New Testament.
I want to be like King David when he said in Psalms 56:
8 You’ve kept track of my every toss and turn through the sleepless nights, Each tear entered in your ledger, each ache written in your book.
9 If my enemies run away, turn tail when I yell at them, then I’ll know that God is on my side.
10 I’m proud to praise God, proud to praise GOD.
11 Fearless now, I trust in God; what can mere mortals do to me?
12 God, you did everything you promised, and I’m thanking you with all my heart.
13 You pulled me from the brink of death, my feet from the cliff-edge of doom. Now I stroll at leisure with God in the sunlit fields of life.
What I want immediately is to know such peace that I can sleep.
on 
on 
It seems endemic to the human condition to want to fix things, work more, try harder, somehow help it all turn out right (whatever a person’s definition of ‘right’ happens to be). This condition may be more exaggerated in the lives of many believers because believers (should) want to go about doing good, want to help their neighbors, want to give to the needy, want to be there for the hurting, want to help solve the problems of others. The ‘natural’ result is inevitably fatigue and frenzy. Where are we going wrong? Are we too often trying to accomplish God’s work with human energy? Our default solutions may be to work harder, to work longer, to be more accessible to others, to be more giving of our time and resources, to be a better listener to burdened people, and on, and on, and on. Where does it end? Can we be faithful and responsive to God’s will for our lives and yet experience true rest and peace here in the land of the living? The answer is not easy, but it is a resounding “Yes”.
Fatigue, frustration and failure can and do plague conscientious believers. Persistence in known sin aside, when these conditions are common or perhaps even defining in our lives they are generally the result of reliance on our own strength and talents, our self-concepts, our ingrained behavior patterns, and our preconceptions, rather than on the life of Christ within us. Fatigue, failure and frustration should not define a believer’s life. The incidence and impact of these conditions in our lives can be significantly reduced, but generally not until circumstances bring us to the end of ourselves. For most of us, it is difficult for our flesh to admit that it is not up to dealing with the circumstances of life. In fact, left to its own devices, for most of us our flesh never would make such a concession. Consequently, God, gracious and loving, full of mercy and compassion for our condition, comes along at one or more times in our lives and allows us to enter a period of severe hardship, what I refer to as a “sacred trial”. These are trials that we eventually recognize to be completely beyond our ability to resolve. Sacred trials and and take many forms and have broadly varying durations. Father is creative. Within sacred trials, which can last for years, aspects of our flesh life are invited into a process of decay and death. The process is painful, gut wrenching. During the sacred trial our tendency to self confidence and self effort ebbs away as we recognize the hopelessness of our situation. Frequently, fear begins to grow, replacing self-confidence. Eventually, fear itself begins to yield to enlarged faith, hope and trust in the One who loves us more than we love ourselves. Through sacred trials self concepts become more consistent with the teaching of scripture. Long held beliefs and materials things that at one time defined our person-hood, begin to dissolve. To an increasing degree we discover that it is no longer ourselves that live in the same old way, but that our life is being reduced and the life of Christ within us is being enlarged. (Gal 2:20)
The pathway to increased rest and peace becoming a reality in our lives is often indescribably painful. If prior to entering a sacred trial we were given the option of opting out, many of us would. No one loves pain. Still, I don’t know anyone who has experienced the journey who, given the option the option afterwards to roll the tape back, would opt to avoid the sacred trials God has permitted in their lives. — Can we know His rest and peace in its entirety on this side of the grave? No. Can we have a rest and a peace that the world cannot take away, a peace that passes understanding, as we humbly submit to what God wants to do in and through our lives? Yes.