The Rest Of Faith

The Rest of Faith

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest. Hebrews 4:11, ESV

FAITH IS A PARADOX. On the one hand, we struggle to believe, strive to arrive at a place of rest, and fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12). On the other hand, genuine faith produces a calm assurance in our hearts and minds that God is going to do what he promised, and we can trust him with our lives. So do we fight for “the faith” (our set of beliefs and doctrines) and rest in “faith” (our attitude toward God)? Do we view the journey as a tumultuous process but the destination as a haven of rest? Is it really necessary to struggle to get to a place of peace? How do we balance striving and resting?

In a sense, all of the above approaches are true and have their place. But as we’ve seen, the life of faith is not so easily divided into components as we sometimes do when talking about it. There are times when we labor in prayer in order to get to a place of deep, enduring faith that can’t be shaken, but that’s more a matter of shaking off false attitudes to reveal real faith than trying to muster up faith ourselves. Because we have the Holy Spirit within us and have believed in the Son, faith is already there. The faith of Jesus is included in having the mind of Jesus (1 Corinthians 2:16). Our wrestling is not with faith itself but with its obstacles. Once we peel those back—often with considerable struggle—the faith we have been given stands clear. It’s what we need to proceed, wait, act, speak, and wield as a down payment on God’s promises. We can rest in it.

That’s why we strive to enter in. We face a lot of obstacles within us and beyond us that would attack and undermine our faith. But it’s there, and we can lean back into it whenever we choose. Entering in may require a bit of a fight, but abiding in it is effortless. The gift of faith is all we need to believe, receive, speak, live out, and celebrate God’s promises.

Quit sweating, quit wrestling. It is not try but trust.