2 Chronicles 14:6
“He built fortified cities in Judah, since the land was undisturbed, and there was no one at war with him during those years, because the LORD had given him rest.”
It is so refreshing to see God give His rest, His peace. I resonate with this. A believer who walks with God knows His rest, His peace. It’s the missing puzzle piece that all of us were meant to have, but was lost due to the fall. When God said that Adam and Eve would die if they ate the apple, they got cut off from a close relationship with God. Jesus came to die for our sins and to restore that relationship.
Let’s look at God’s rest. Hebrews 4:9 says, “There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God.” There are several rests mentioned in the bible. The seventh day was given as a day of rest. Just like we were meant to work we were also meant to rest. Going to worship (church) is similar, but slightly different. Today’s verse speaks of not being at war as another type of rest. The type of rest I’m referring to has two components. When our sins are forgiven we are at peace with God. That is a wonderful rest that Jesus secured by His great sacrifice. What is also given when one receives Christ is God’s peace, a rest.
While peace and rest are slightly different I’m going to bunch them together. Philippians 4:7 says, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” This is what we sense when our sins are forgiven. Which makes sense. When we are at odds with a person we feel bad. When we reconcile we feel better. That’s part of it. The other part is sensing God’s presence. We are at peace with God and the Holy Spirit takes up residence in us (Romans 8:9). Along with His presence comes His peace.
We feel others. If we are with an anxious person we sense that. If we are with an angry person we feel uneasy. When we are with God we feel His peace. As the Philippian verse said, it passes all understanding. We might be in a rough circumstance yet we feel His peace. We should be nervous or stressed, but we aren’t. His peace is there with us.
The rest in today’s passage is a type. They had rest from there enemies transfers to having God’s rest, His peace in the New Testament. It is so satisfying. Here’s an odd comparison, but a little like being on a drug. Yet in a good way. We can’t be stable and be dependent on a drug. Yet we can be dependent on God and His peace. That is how it was meant to be. God is the missing puzzle piece we were meant to have.
In the third paragraph I mentioned that Gods rest has two components. The first is all that’s been said; it’s the rest we get from being forgiven and sensing HIs presence. We get that for free when we accept Christ. The second part is our responsibility. King Asa assisted with this by tearing down the high places and bringing the nation back to God and fortifying cities. Our part is to keep alive our relationship with God by connecting with Him in quiet times and to walk in obedience. We are to keep the 10 commandments or use Jesus’ interpretation to loving God and others. As we do that we are staying close to Him. As we stay close to Him the more we feel His presence, His peace, His rest.
A person can accept Christ and not be close to Him. He has bowed the knee and generally obeys, but there aren’t quiet times. They may not go to church or spend much time in the bible. I Corinthians 3:1-3 illustrates this, “And I, brothers and sisters, could not speak to you as spiritual people, but only as fleshly, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to consume it. But even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like ordinary people?” These don’t experience much of God’s peace. It’s sad.
God reaches out to us to use our circumstances to keep us dependent on Him. If we yield to Him it goes well. If we don’t then life is a bumpy road.
Lord, help us to be like Asa and stay close to You. Thank You for Your wonderful peace. You are so good to us. Thank You.