Title: How to Get Rest
Text: Mark 1:35
Date: 2007. 7. 8. Sunday Day Worship
A long time ago, while a Western missionary was driving a jeep and driving down a country road, a short grandmother was walking with a bag on her head. It was the same direction, so I picked up my grandmother. “Grandma, ride.” The missionary is running for a while with a happy expression on his face. What is this? Looking in the mirror, doesn't Grandma still have a load on her head? Startled, he said, “Grandma, why are you carrying a load on your head? Put it down.” At this time, the grandmother said, "Thank you for picking me up and I'm sorry, but how can I put my luggage down?"
This is an example from a long time ago. When I think of rest, I think of this grandmother. Loads are always on the head of modern people. The body rests, but the mind does not. Even if you rest in this state, you are not resting. Perhaps you have forgotten how to rest. How should I rest? I would like to think about how to find rest by following the example Jesus set. How can I find rest?
First, you need to have some quiet time.
“In the morning, rather than at dusk,” Jesus got up early. You woke up before dawn. It arose when all things were employed. You woke up while it was still cold. Jesus was a “morning man.” Why did Jesus choose the dawn time? It was because I was able to focus on God in the time all things had hired. It was because I was able to focus only on fellowship with God during the time when I did not have contact with people. Jesus chose “an uninterrupted time.”
We need quiet time. “My soul, wait quietly for God alone, for my hope comes from him” (Psalm 62:5). “It is good that one waits in silence for the salvation of the Lord” (Lamentations 3:26). The reason we need quiet time is because it is a good time to feel God. Do you want to feel the comfort and peace of God? Please have a quiet time. You have to get up early in the morning to have a quiet time. You must also learn to be silent. We talk too easily and talk nonstop.
As Job went through trials, he became a talker. He said a lot of words that cursed his life, and he blamed God. And a lot of time arguing with friends. I became chatty while reacting to people. As I talked a lot, I forgot all my faith. Life became more desperate. It also became rough and ferocious. But on hearing Elihu's advice, Job stopped talking. Job's silence was God's opportunity. When he was silent, God began to speak. “Will he who persecutes contend with the Almighty? He who contends with God will answer” (Job 40:2). Job answered. “I am lowly; what shall I answer thee? I just cover my mouth with my hand” (Job 40:4). Human silence is God's opportunity. I encourage you to remain silent so that God can speak. Just by being silent, you can feel the arms of God.
Second, you must have an alcove.
“Jesus got up and went out to a secluded place” Jesus probably went to a nearby garden. It must have been a secluded, sparsely populated place. The reason Jesus chose a secluded place is simple. It was to avoid contact with people. Contact with people is necessary. Too little contact leads to emotional isolation and emotional problems. On the other hand, too much contact with people cuts off our relationship with God. Jesus avoided contact with people in the morning to meet God, and the rest of the time he met people.
It is not easy to find a ‘secluded place’ in modern life. It's hard to even have it once a year. Even when traveling or hospitalized, people are always by your side. So what should I do? Jesus tells us to “have a closet” (Matthew 6:6). You can have an alcove even if you don't go far. When the whole family leaves, the whole house becomes a closet. When I am alone in the office, that place is my closet. When I am alone in the chapel, that place is my closet. If you choose the time zone well, it is easy to get the closet. You have to turn off your cell phone in order for the place you are staying to become an alcove. The television must not be turned on. You need to remove your earphones. Do not sit at your computer desk.
Jacob spends the night in the Wilderness of Rus on his way to Paddan Aram to escape from his brother. For the first time in my life, I left my family and had a lonely night. There was nobody there. That night I met God in a dream. The God of Abraham and Isaac promised him “I will be with you.” He got up and confessed: “Surely the LORD is here, and I did not know” (Genesis 28:16). God was always with him. He only knew that God was with him because he was alone in the wilderness. When the place I stay becomes a closet, I can confirm that God exists. If you can't feel God's presence, secure a closet. The closet is a place where you can feel God and experience the arms of God.
Third, we must take time to pray.
“He prayed there” Jesus prayed before dawn. He also went to a remote place to pray. In the evening you can rest your body and in the morning you can rest your mind. Jesus took prayer very seriously. “After he had sent out the crowd, he went up by himself to a mountain to pray, and at sunset he was alone” (Matthew 14:23). Self-isolated to pray. In John 6, after performing the miracle of five fish, people tried to make Jesus king. Because you solved the eating problem. At that time, Jesus went to the mountain alone (John 6:15). You left people at the peak of your popularity. Taking time to stand before God was very important. Because it was a time to recharge, a time for self-care.
What would you do if a lot of people were looking for us? If you try to respond to everyone's needs, you will not get time to stand before God. Prayer is spiritual communion with God. What people cannot give, God gives. People shake our faith. But God strengthens us. Those who know this go to the place of prayer. In order to succeed in prayer, we must cast aside the prejudice of prayer. Did Jesus pray quietly? Most people think so. The book of Hebrews testifies that Jesus prayed with intense weeping and tears (Hebrews 5:7). Doctor Luke testifies that Jesus' capillaries burst and his sweat became drops of blood (Luke 22:44). Both silent prayer and cry out prayer are needed. If we need a cry of prayer for strength, we need a silent prayer if we want to experience God's comfort and peace. Don't stick to just one style.
British theologian John Stadt introduced three methods of Satan to attack churches and saints. 1) It is persecution. It is a method of oppression by force. 2) It is hypocrisy. To make a Christian a hypocrite leads to the corruption of the church. Ultimately, it becomes a helpless church. 3) It is to lose its original form. In the early church, the apostles were not able to pray and preach the word properly. Because he was obsessed with salvation. The church is in conflict and the power of the gospel is diminished. The apostles take extraordinary measures. He entrusted the work of almsgiving to the seven deacons, and there was nothing in prayer or preaching the word. As a result, many have turned to the Lord. It is the duty of the saints to pray. It is dangerous not to pray because you are driven by various things. Prayer is our rest. Prayer is the safest posture of faith. Prayer is a way to lie in the arms of the Almighty. There is rest in the arms of the Almighty.
The great Russian writer Tolstoy abandoned the Christian faith in his youth. He believed that Christianity was a heavy burden that oppressed mankind and limited individual freedom. However, at the age of 55, he received Jesus personally. In his book “On Faith,” he confessed: “In the 55 years of my life, except for the first 15 years, I have not been able to enjoy true rest. When I was 18 years old, I gave up my faith after hearing from a friend that God did not create man, but man made God. Because they believed that abandoning the Christian faith was the way to freedom. But when I was 55, I returned to the arms of the motherly faith that I had abandoned myself. It's not just a return to religion. I have returned to Christ, my Savior. In it I found true rest for the first time.” True rest is in Jesus Christ. If you still have a load on your head, put it down. And I hope that you will enjoy rest in your father's arms.