Rest for the Weary from Hebrews 4:9-11

Today I am commenting on Hebrews 4:9-11.

People are tired. Pastors are tired. I am tired. 2020 was a dumpster fire of a year; in fact, someone designed a 2020 Christmas tree ornament in the shape of a dumpster fire. I find that most appropriate. We all need a new start.

The last time I felt this tired was ten years ago at the end of my deployment to Iraq as a chaplain in the Alabama Army National Guard. I was not only chaplain for a very busy unit, but I also was pastor of the largest chapel service on Camp Victory in Baghdad. 

During the week I burned the candle at both ends and by the time Sunday afternoon arrived I was so tired that all I could do was lie on my bed and close my eyes. I was so tired I could not even sleep, much less read a book, watch a movie on my computer, or listen to music. By supper time, however, I had revived enough to make my way to the dining facility for a good meal, and by Monday I was back up and at it, starting another busy week of ministry.

I am not quite as tired today as I was in Iraq, but the past year has presented us all with stresses and challenges that have made us all tired and we are all looking for some relief in 2021. The good news is that relief is available to us, as the writer of Hebrews reminded us:

There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:9-11)

To be clear, the writer was talking about our rest from relying on works for salvation, and resting in Christ as our Savior, but if we can rest in Him for salvation, can we not also rest in Him for . . . rest?

The Corona virus has negatively impacted many areas of our life, but participation in church worship and other ministries has been impacted more than most in my estimation. What lessons can we draw from our experience of 2020?

Build Spiritual Endurance:

First, and most immediately, we must take every opportunity to build our spiritual endurance. We can do this through private and family devotions, through use of technology and the internet, and, most importantly, through safely gathering as often as possible with our church family for mutual support and encouragement.

Remember the Lessons from Jospeh:

Second, as the Corona virus situation improves, and I am confident it will, we need to remember the lesson of the seven fat years and the seven lean years in the story of Joseph. We need to build our spiritual strength in the easy times, because one thing is for certain, hard times will come again.

Be of Good Cheer:

Finally, we all must remember that our ultimate rest in Christ is yet to come, when we cross over the Jordan into the Eternal Zion of Heaven. Even if the Corona virus continues to bedevil us, God has prepared a place for us with Him for Eternity, so be of good cheer, child of God!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt