Rest and Peace for Our Souls
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.
Matthew 11:29
Many people are living seemingly comfortable lives in this world, but do they have God’s rest for their souls? Do they have the peace that transcends understanding from the Holy Spirit? Do they have this rest and peace from God that remains with us through the Spirit, or do they experience temporary peace and rest from the world?
The rest that comes from our Lord fills our souls enabling us to live in a peaceful state of mind that the world can see in us. This rest and peace is a great witness to others and makes it easier to reflect Christ. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Colossians 3:12). When we are filled with rest and peace in our souls, we can be clothed with compassion, kindness, gentleness, and patience.
How do we get our souls filled with God’s rest and peace? Since rest and peace come from God they are resident in the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we must be filled with the Spirit. Without the Spirit we can only experience peace from the world, which is inferior to the divine rest and peace which comes from God. This peace and rest which comes from God through the Spirit can only be experienced when we are connected to the Spirit.
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6). Without faith it is impossible to have a relationship with our Lord. If we do not believe we cannot receive the Holy Spirit. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). We are saved by faith because our faith indicates to the Lord that we know him, trust him, and accept his perfect love.
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires (Romans 8:5). The more sensitivity our consciences have to the Spirit, the more we can follow Christ’s good, pleasing, and perfect will. Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did (1 John 2:6). If we follow the Spirit. living as Jesus lived, as we pray, read the Word, and worship in fellowship, the love and peace from the Spirit will fill our minds and hearts. The longer we serve the Lord, the more love and peace we possess. This love increases until our last breath when it continues eternally into heaven.
As we grow closer to the Lord spiritually, his love increases in our hearts causing our faith likewise to increase. In this way, we can comfortably surrender our lives to Christ. We become eternally minded because we greatly desire to be with Christ and the Father. This desire is the greatest thing in all creation for us. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). When we are confident in our eternal lives and we desire to be with Christ, we will experience a big increase in God’s rest and peace for our souls.
Today, meditate on what it would be like to be in the Lord’s loving presence. Seek to be close to the Lord in the Spirit and reflect his love, peace, and joy to others. The more you reflect these divine qualities to others, the more you receive from the Lord.
Let’s Pray: Lord, thank you for filling me with the Spirit and bringing me near to you. Thank you for your perfect love and for the gift of your peace and rest for my soul. Help me to always reflect your love, peace, and rest to others so that they may see Christ in me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.