by Steve Ary
Matthew 11:28 – Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Consider the past two years… and tell me if the Greek definitions of labor and heavy laden sound familiar…
Labour G2872 – labor, toil, you who have been working hard, who are growing fatigued; are becoming wearied, have been reduced in strength, those who are in pain, who are troubled, who are in grief, lamenting, mourning, wailing, those who are cut to the heart, cut down, and beat up with repeated blows… tell me if this sounds familiar.
Heavy Laden G5412 – to be overloaded, overburden, overwhelmed, overtasked, driven about, rushing around, filled with anxiety, carrying or enduring too much, trying to uphold a weight which is too much to bear, striving for something which seems to be just out of reach… tell me if this sounds familiar.
2020 was rough. 2021 was worse… for most of us, I would assume. It would seem that we have lost our trust in God and perhaps, have lost our way. But that’s nothing new. The Israelites felt the same… when they lost their way.
Exodus 33:12-14 says, “Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people!’ But You Yourself have not let me know whom You will send with me. Moreover, You have said, ‘I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’ 13 Now then, if I have found favor in Your sight in any way, please let me know 
Your ways so that I may know You, in order that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people.” 14 And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” (*emphasis mine)
After the last two years that we have had, is anyone ready for some rest? I know I am. Those years were rough! I was even scared of entering into 2022 all the way up to the last day of 2021… But then God set me free. He released me from strife. He released me from bondage. He released me from a broken heart. He released me from the spirit of rejection. He cut off the bonds of betrayal. And He released me from depression, a stronghold the devil had on me for 43 years.
I have been set free. And if He set me free, I see that as a sign that He is doing the same for you… if you will receive it. Again, I have been set free… and I have begun to enter into His rest.
Rest is more important to God than it seems to be for us. And there is good reason for that… it means more than what we think it means.
We can see from the previous passage that God desires to give His people rest. And with rest, as we can see from the scripture, there is a direct connection between God’s rest, God’s presence, and God’s favor. We can see, also, that all three of these (rest, presence, favor) are tied to the Sabbath. The first mention of rest in Bible comes from Gen. 2:2 which says…
Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. Check out the Hebrew definition of rest…
H7673 שָׁבַת shâbath shaw-bath’ – to repose, to remove, to put an end to, to cease and desist from exertion or labor, to be exempt from the burden, to rest, to relax, to become still, to be refreshed…. and it also means… to celebrate!!
God is a God of celebration. What? Did you think He was somber and monotone or angry all the time like they portray in the movies? No, God likes to party. Is it ok to say that? C’mon, think about it. Remember how much fun it was to set aside all of the mundane responsibilities of this ridiculous rat race and relax with friends and family over the holidays? Yeah, God loves that. He loves to celebrate. He gives us numerous reasons to celebrate in the Biblical feast days, consider Rosh Hashanah (the New Year), the Day of Atonement, the Feasts of Trumpets, Tabernacles, Dedication, the Feast of Purim (Lots), Passover, and the Feast of Pentecost… but that’s not all God gives us to celebrate… He also gives us Jubilee every 50th year, Shemitah every 7th year, and Shabbat every 7th day…
Incidentally, from what I understand, we are in a Shemitah year. A Shemitah year is the 7th year of a 7-year cycle. Just as with the 7th day Sabbath, the 7th year has a Sabbath called the Shemitah. After 6 years of planting and harvesting, the land is given a year of rest. If the land rests, it produces more abundantly than it did before. If the land does not rest… well… it will produce less.
We can see the Shemitah in action all over the world today, right? After all, the Shemitah isn’t just for believers, it’s for the land, so it’s kind of like the laws of gravity or the laws of physics. Shemitah is for everyone.
So, to recap how the Shemitah law works… For those who do not let the land rest on the 7th year, they have a smaller harvest each year. So clearly, we can see that the farmers always let the land rest, right? Well… not so much. Not anymore.
You see, greed and corruption says, “Let’s plant every year regardless of the natural Shemitah law… even though it may cost more money to plant. To make sure our harvest is plenty each year, it’ll cost some money but, let’s ship rich soil in regularly since we have sucked the land dry of all its nutrients. While it may cost some money, let’s irrigate the crops with Miracle Grow to help the crops grow. Let’s spray chemicals on the crops to protect them even though that will cost some money. It will cost a whole lot of money, but let’s genetically modify the crops now so that the chemicals aren’t just sprayed on top with a chance of washing off but are intertwined with the DNA of the crop itself. Then, when it doesn’t rain on the genetically-modified crops, we manipulate the weather to bring the rain, and that will certainly cost some money.
Now, don’t act like weather manipulation is science fiction or a conspiracy theory. We’ve been manipulating the weather since before the Vietnam war and there’s plenty of documentation to prove it [see Operation Popeye]. In fact, it’s public knowledge along with many other operations we’ve been trained to label as science fiction or conspiracy theory. You can lead a horse to water… Anyway, crop dusters have been tying or even taping smoke flares to their wings for decades because they learned that the smoke causes the clouds to become heavy and, subsequently, for the rain to fall when it wouldn’t have fallen otherwise, and that costs money.
Imagine if the greedy and corrupt ever figure out that all they have to do is set annual forest fires in California to get enough smoke to cause the rain all over the United States. Imagine what would happen if the greedy and corrupt ever figure that out… … …Anyway, as you can tell, weather manipulation costs money, and a whole lot of it.
Greed and corruption ignores the Shemitah… and we can see the results… in astronomical amounts of money it takes to ship the new soil in from far away, the money spent in irrigation, the money spent on the chemicals shipped in to the farmers, the push for carbon taxation now to cover the massive expenses that come with weather manipulation… and then the explosive numbers of medical issues and medical cases that are most likely rooted in the chemicals we eat and the tainted particulate matter that we breathe.
This is what happens when the land is not permitted to rest, so what do you think happens when you do not permit your body to rest? By the works of your own hands, you strive, toil, struggle, maneuver, and manipulate to try to keep your head above water. You are full of fear and worry as your life doesn’t produce what you planned. You complain the whole time because nothing is working out the way you thought. (By the way, the previous scripture from Exodus all started when God told Moses that He was tired of all the complaining, all the murmuring, and stubbornness of His people, so He was going to send an angel to lead them instead. This reveals that God cannot stand our complaining under heavy laden and burdensome labors. …Thankfully, Moses begged God to stay, so He did.
So, yes, when we don’t rest as God has said, we start whining and complaining when things don’t go our way. Then we spend all of our money on things we wouldn’t have just to stay afloat… because that gets expensive. We spend our money on the medicines and pharmaceuticals that keep our bodies in operation. Prescriptions and over-the-counter medications. More Mountain Dew and coffee. More antacids to deal with the new stomach issues. More Tylenol to deal with the headaches. And on and on… And then, after we have been disobedient to God’s call to rest, we blame Him for not showing up in our lives to bless us…. How could He have blessed us and steered us in the right direction when we wouldn’t get our hands off the wheel?
God wants us to enter into His rest… and let Him do the rest. 😉 (That was a word play if you didn’t catch it.) He wants us to trust Him. He wants us to slow down… and He wants us to be still, in fact, He has TOLD us to.
Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. – Psalm 46:10 (*em)
I like to read what the Bible doesn’t say in order to better understand what it says, so perhaps what Psalm 46:10 is also saying is:
“It is because you struggle, you worry, you fear, and you dwell in anxiety just like the news stations tell you to when I have told you to rest in Me…. It is because you listen to the fear mongers instead of My voice… (Incidentally, God gave us the Bible. Satan gave us the Mainstream Media.) It is because you continue to strive and doubt when I have 
told you to rest… It is because you have not entered into My rest… that I still have not been exalted in the earth. If only you would rest when the whole world is striving, trusting in Me in the midst of the storm, then will I finally be exalted in the earth.”
However, we are to read that scripture, our part is simple; Be still (rest) and know that He is God. The rest is up to Him.
So why do we refuse to rest? Why do we refuse to be still? Why do we not enter into His rest? Hebrews 3 & 4 tells us…
“And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 And so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.” – Hebrews 3:18-19 (*em)
“For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. 11 Therefore let’s make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience. – Hebrews 4:10-11 (*em)
If our focus in on the wrong thing, if our attention is pulled away from where the Lord has pointed us, if we are distracted by what the devil sends our way, or if we are focused on the works of our own hands (pride), or we are focused on our own lack of accomplishment, and desiring to have or do things God never told us to have or do, when we pray for things we have not yet received, and our reaction is frustration, disappointment, bitterness, and pouting, then we can easily be swayed away from that which will keep us in that place of rest.
So, where should our focus be in order to enter into His rest? How will we be obedient to be still? How will we believe Him at His word exalting Him in all the earth? How will we be at peace when the whole world is in turmoil? It’s simple…
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, (translation: dwell, meditate on, focus, set your eyes on) think about these things. 9 As for the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” – Philippians 4:6-9 (*em)
Now, one of the worst things we do as believers is that we hear or read powerful and life-changing messages, and then never implement the practical application of what we just learned.
So, how do we implement entering into His rest, His blessing, and trusting in Him? It’s simple… Stop trying to control how He blesses you. Stop trying to control when He blesses you. Stop complaining about having not received the blessing in the way you wanted, the timing you wanted, the magnitude you wanted, or in the method you wanted. Stop trying to control when He releases you. Stop trying to control when He heals you. Stop trying to control when he delivers you. How do we implement what we are learning today? We surrender our control to God.
We Trust Him with 2022. Trust Him to come through. Trust Him to provide for you. Trust the Word of God which says that He will supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory. Trust Him with His calendar, for He is always right on time. And trust Him, that He cares about the matters of our hearts. Trust Him when He says that He will not withhold any good thing from those whom He loves. And trust that if something was withheld from you, it wasn’t a good thing after all.
And after we trust Him, we celebrate!! Celebrate His plan for our lives, the plenty… and the lack, the rest… and the striving… the gain… and the pain that got you there! Celebrate His lovingkindness. Celebrate that the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away…. Blessed be the name of the Lord!!
If we are obedient, if we are thankful, if we praise Him, if we believe Him, if we surrender the burdens… His presence will go with us… and He will give us rest.
Now… do you want to know when I rest the best? It’s not when I put down the tools of my labors. It’s not when I put down my sword from the battle. It’s not when I stop advancing God’s Kingdom on the earth. It’s not when I’m lying in bed eating bon bons… whatever those are, lol. It’s not when I’m lounging on the couch watching Cobra Kai. …No! I rest the best under the anointing of God, in the presence of God.
His anointing breaks the yoke of bondage, the heavy laden burdens, and the overwhelming labors of life. His anointing brings kingdom transformation to the people around you as He flows through you, and that’s where it’s at. When you serve others, minister to others, and help others as a willing vessel for God’s anointing, He will give rest to your spirit, to your soul, and to your body.
His anointing brings freedom, new revelation of truth, and miracles to the people around us. When His anointing is flowing through me, when His presence is upon me, when His kingdom is at work through me… my spirit is finally at rest. In His presence and under His anointing, we can bring our spirits to a place of rest and rejuvenation.
And it’s easy to invite God’s presence into your life. The Word of God tells us how to do that. All we have to do to invite the presence of the Lord is Praise Him!! Praise Him in the morning, praise Him in the noontime, praise Him when the sun goes down.
Praise Him! For God inhabits the praises of His people. He sits enthroned upon the praises of Israel. Praise Him for Who He is. Praise Him for what He’s done. Praise Him for His character and virtues. Praise Him for His perfect will. Praise Him for His sovereign plan. It takes faith, trust and courage to take our hands off the wheel and let God take over, so… Rak Chazak! Be strong and courageous in His anointing. Trust God to pour out His Spirit through you, and enter into His rest! That’s an order.
