Rest in Jesus

Have you ever heard the phrase, “Find your rest in God.”? Do you know what it means? Do you really know what it means, like, have you ever had to actually do it? Sleep didn’t get me through this week. Coffee, good friends, healthy food, exercise, and orange juice didn’t get me through this week. I’m not kidding when I say that Jesus is what I lived off of.

I was volunteering for an organization that goes to party locations during spring break. The goal was simply to watch out for spring breakers and protect them as best we can while they have fun. We’d walk kids back to their hotel rooms, clean up for them, get them water, watch out for them if they were alone, and even call the ambulance or police if need be. 

Doing what we did for a week was not pretty. I held sick  bags at 10pm and climbed under bathroom stalls to retrieve passed-out teenagers at 3am. I would go to bed at 5 am and wake up again at 8am to check on the students we’d met the night before. 

A friend said something that has resonated with me ever since. Jesus would be at spring break. He would be right there with us, loving without any judgment, holding hair back, walking kids home. No one would find Jesus sitting in his church pew during spring break waiting for sinners to come to him. He wouldn’t be in his hotel room all night fast asleep either. We all know exactly where Jesus was found - in the streets, loving sinners, no matter how exhausted he was. So why would today be any different? Why should my life be any different?

Luke 5:16 talks about Jesus’ habit to get away from everyone and spend time with the Father. This was how he found his rest from the crowds and chaos that came with them. My focus was never on the next time I could take a shower or a nap. I was only ever worried about when I could read my Bible or when I could get a good long talk with God. I couldn’t depend on how good I felt at the beginning of the week or even the words I got from God the day before. Each day had to be a new revelation, what I felt God was saying for that particular day. I learned what it was like to be sustained by God like Jesus was and my relationship with Him flourished. 
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Has there ever been a time when you had to rely on God alone to sustain you? Share with us in the comments below! 

About the Author ~

​Erin Baird did her DTS in Townsville, Australia in 2017. Since then her love for missions has grown, along with ending Bible poverty. She enjoys traveling, baking, studying the Bible, and teaching others how to study the Bible for themselves. She currently lives in Texas with her husband, Carl as they serve on staff at YWAM Ships Corpus Christi. ​