Rest in the Midst of Chaos

Written by Erin Richer

It’s Labor Day and hopefully this finds you resting. Isn’t it funny that we celebrate work by resting? In fact, I think that’s exactly what the Sabbath was intended to be: a weekly celebration and enjoyment of all the things we accomplished in our labors throughout the week. This particular Labor Day is just plain bizarre. It’s the beginning of a season of a hundred decisions a day, from the schedule we keep at home or work, to how we’re going to school our children. Also, it’s an election year, and the Labor Day of election years always marks the beginning of the final campaign sprint to Election Day on November 4th. The insanity surrounding all of it simply goes without saying. It’s nuts; nothing feels normal. It feels like everything and everyone is reactionary and nothing can be planned. And yet our God loves loves loves to give His people rest. There are hundreds of verses related to His desire for our rest, but I’ll lay out two to help us decide today to rest rather than react.

Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. (Psalm 127:1-2)

Our God is sovereign. His plans never fail, so it is wise to partake in His plans rather than work furiously on our own. If you’ve been following along in the Bible Reading Plan, we have finally arrived in one of my favorite books: 1 Samuel. David’s faithfulness to seek God before He does anything always astounds me. Somehow he innately knows this truth: Unless God goes before Him, the toil is worthless. How and when did this become his knee-jerk reaction? How did he know that God would answer if he asked Him, “Should I put my energies to this battle or this endeavor? Will You be with me in this?” I think it’s significant that just as Jesus recharged throughout His ministry by seeking solitude, David grew up alone on a hillside tending sheep, spending time alone working in God’s presence. 

I’ve been learning a lot about rest and silence and solitude in the way that God intended it. I’m paying attention to it in both the Old Testament passages and in the Gospel of Mark. While there’s no truly wrong way to spend time with God, I have a lot to learn and I’ve discovered to some degree I’ve been missing the point. First being alone with Him is important. But also…

Lately, the Lord’s been stirring me awake early enough to steal away with him for a period of time before anyone else.

Recently, I sat quietly before Him and began to ask what I should do about something; I began to realize this is often how I spend my alone time with God: asking for guidance in all the things I do. That’s when I felt Him say, “This is how you often come to spend time with Me. I want you to try something new. In this time, just be with Me.” And so I settled in and rested with Him and He both affirmed me and reminded me He doesn’t need me to do anything. He can do it all on His own, but He likes that I like to be in it all with Him. 

I think this is what made David a great leader. I think he had spent so much time with the Father in the wilderness not doing anything for Him, just being with Him. I think David knew how to rest with God just as Jesus knew how to sleep in a storm tossed boat.

So here is the second verse God has led me to this week—so timely and true:

For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” But you were unwilling, and you said, “No! We will flee upon horses”; therefore you shall flee away; and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”; therefore your pursuers shall be swift. A thousand shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you shall flee, till you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, like a signal on a hill. (Isaiah 30:15-17)

Re-read and cling to these two lines:

“In returning and rest you shall be saved;

in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”

These verses were written in the context of chaos that is about to ensue as the nation of Israel is trampled and the people are taken into exile. Their nation is about to go through an insanely scary time. I left the entire verse because it contrasts what people who do not listen for God’s voice do, compared to what God desires for His people. 

Our natural inclination regarding chaos is frenzied and reactionary—to run, or to prepare for all of the outcomes, or to find a place where we will be safe. God’s Word says in returning (repentance) and rest we will be saved. The word rest here means “lighting down” or a “quiet attitude” or to be “set on.” I like to think of “set on” as us being set quietly down on a rock for sleep like Jacob when he was desperately afraid to meet Esau in the wilderness—the rock we lay our heads on, of course, is Christ.

We can rest deeply in really hard times when we implicitly trust the sovereignty of God over all things.

The verse goes on to say, in quietness (which literally means: to be quiet, be tranquil, be at peace, be quiet, rest, lie still, be undisturbed) and trust is our strength. 

I think of Jesus, walking among the crowds in the midst of total chaos and discomfort, undisturbed and in complete tranquility. He knew the end toward which He was walking each day. He knew each day was going to require more suffering and that ultimately He would suffer in the most excruciating way. But He spent time with His Father each day. He knew that His value and place in the world was secure and no amount of pressure or chaos could subvert it.

So let’s be encouraged walking into this next season of chaos. This is the way. Let’s walk in it.

There’s no promise of an immediate end to the chaos of this world. In fact, it’s very possible it will only increase in intensity. We know we will suffer. God’s Word guarantees it. But as believers we keep our eyes on the long game and we know the outcome. It will all be restored. Our Savior is coming back and He will ultimately rule in peace. Our strength each day will come from resting in Him with implicit trust in His plan, His love, and His affection for us; we can’t do a single thing to control the outcome of our lives. What we can do is join in the work God has already prepared in advance for us to do and then lie down and rest on the rock that is Jesus, trusting that He indeed is able to—and ultimately will—calm the storms.

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