Resting in Christ

Have you ever gone to bed dog-tired, looking forward longingly to those blissful hours of deep sleep, only to start thinking about something that instantly drew you back into reluctant wakefulness? It could have been some knotty problem that you’d been unable to solve previously, or a difficult relational situation still hanging over your head, or something unkind somebody said to you that was still sticking in your craw. Whatever it was, trying to sleep was like trying to stay dry outside in a downpour without an umbrella. It just wasn’t happening.

I think that is about what Solomon had in mind when he wrote the words from this passage. He knew something about anxious toil, with all the palaces and gardens and parks and pools and vineyards and forests he undertook to build. Not to mention all his wives and concubines, which probably did not help his anxiety any. There was a reason God warned the Israelites against a king accumulating silver and gold and wives and horses. Our possessions can begin to possess us, and our restlessness can be the first indicator that something is wrong.

But I believe there is more being addressed in this verse than just literal sleep. If all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16), it follows that it will speak to our deepest needs as well as to the daily food and rest that we need to survive.

“Anxious toil” can refer to so many other things in our lives, not just an Ancient Near East king doing building projects to try to fill the emptiness in his heart. Every time we try to earn God’s love with our good works, we are anxiously toiling. Every time we try to gain someone’s approval instead of accepting what God’s Word says about our identity, we are anxiously toiling. Every time we try to influence an outcome because we fear what failure could mean, we are anxiously toiling. Every time we try to meet our deepest longings with addictive behavior, we are anxiously toiling. And it is not a productive toil – it is slavery.

Anyone who has been stuck in patterns of spiritual unhealthiness knows this is true. It often happens to us slowly, so slowly we often do not even realize it. A sound work ethic turns into desperately trying to earn love. Relating to people becomes obsessing over what they think of us. Steadily pursuing good goals gives way to prioritizing results over faithfulness. Self-medicating with food, exercise, sex, money, or relationships takes the place of allowing the Spirit to shape us into a people dependent on God alone for our wellbeing. These anxious toils always leave us empty and unfulfilled.

In the Gospel, Jesus offers us a kind of rest that can never be compared with the frantic sacrifices that are demanded of us by the false gods we have served in the past. He blesses our obedience with the sure knowledge that our salvation has already been finished for us – earned for us! – at the Cross. He tells us who we are as children of God who need no approbation from the world. He gives good things and he takes them away, and by his Spirit we bless his Name for it, knowing that both are for our ultimate good in him. He gently weans our hearts away from the things of this world and in their place he gives us a genuine hunger and thirst after righteousness.

Truly his yoke is easy and his burden is light (Matthew 11:30). He invites us to let go of the anxious toil we have labored in all our lives and accept his forgiveness and salvation, full and free. There remains then a Sabbath-rest for the people of God (Hebrews 4:9), and we find it in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If by faith we will enter into it, we will find a life together that is one of true freedom, not of slavery.

Lord Jesus, we have labored long into the night, and we have little to show for it. Your obedient life, sinner’s death, and glorious resurrection are our great hope. By your great mercy, calm our hearts of all our anxious toil, bless us with the sleep of those who rest secure in you, and wake us to everlasting life. Amen.

Consider This: When you begin to feel anxious or overworked, stop and think about what you are toiling for. Offer it up to God and ask him to show you the rest he has for you in Christ. He always will.