Exodus 33:14 “The Lord replied, My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
God declared this promise when Moses desperately needed courage and confidence. Sometime before, Moses had come down from his divine encounter on Mount Sinai to find widespread panic and idolatry among the Israelites. He struggled with the monumental task of leadership and needed reassurance of God’s favor. Moses was in a place of total dependence – aware of his shortcomings and the humanly-impossible task of leading a fearful, rebellious, and ungrateful multitude. God answered Moses with the promise of his presence on the journey. And he promised rest.
How is rest related to God’s presence? Moses understood that a promise of rest lay ahead in the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 12:9-10), a destination reachable only if God remained actively present to guide and protect all the way. But there was a more immediate application for Moses himself. He clearly felt great agitation about his calling to leadership. He needed to hear from God that the mission was not all on his own fallible, human shoulders. Then he heard this promise and his attention turned from his own limitations and fears to God’s infinite power and glory.
Jesus emphasized a similar point when he said in Matthew 6:25, 33 “I tell you, do not worry about your life … But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
And this brings us again to the Sabbath. In Exodus 34:21, God tells Moses, “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.” Even during the busiest times, when the pressure to produce is highest, and when timing is critical, God wants me to complete my work in six days each week. God calls his followers to live differently from the world around us. This isn’t about shirking or indolence, for I am expected to work hard six out of seven days every week. It’s about trusting God, seeking and celebrating him in the company of others, and enjoying a day of peace and rest.
I want to know the Lord’s favor and enjoy his presence not only on the Sabbath but on every day of the week. Even as I navigate through the challenges of my job and unanticipated new demands that crash in from time to time, I need to pause, pray, and find confidence in God. The New Testament teaches that God’s Spirit lives within me (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; 2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:13; 2:22; 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 4:8; 2 Timothy 1:14). Yet, God will never force me to acknowledge his presence. Amazingly, I can choose to ignore and even obstruct his Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19) – a certain recipe for failure. But when I turn my attention to him, I can find rest. 2 Corinthians 3:17 “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” In a world of toil and anxiety, God offers rest because he offers himself.
Father, you know how much I long to find rest and refreshment in new ways this year. Help me to be fully present and at peace in every circumstance, no matter how challenging or how much I might be tempted into a reactive, stressed response. Instead, I want to pause and pray, seeking your direction first in all things.
This week: What can you do differently this week to enter God’s presence every day and find confidence and rest in him? Consider reading and jotting down your observations of Matthew 6:24-34, two or three verses at a time each morning. After that, take a few minutes to pray over Jesus’ words, applying them to your own situation. Then see how God uses his Word in your life throughout this week. You won’t regret one minute of the time you invest this way.