“Jesus said that He came to give us rest (Matthew 11:28), and yet we Christians are some of the most worn out people on the planet. Hebrews 4 clearly states there is a rest that remains for God’s people, but it’s very possible to miss it. God’s rest is available but not guaranteed. There’s something we must do to enter this rest (Hebrews 4:11). 

“Those who neglect the secret place always seem to struggle with stress and demands. Their lives tend toward a constant flurry of incessant activity. Jesus designed that there be a portion of our day when we just STOP. Stop the frenetic pace, get off the merry- go-round, and calm our hearts in the love of God. God’s rest is uncovered through a diligent pursuit of the secret place. 

“The rest of God can be found only in ceasing from all our own works and learning to just “be” in the presence of the Lord (Hebrews 4:10).

“The Sabbath is to the week as the secret place is to the day. What I mean is, even as the Sabbath was an appointed day of rest in the course of a hardworking week, the secret place is an appointed place of rest in the course of a busy day…

“When we take an hour to commune with our Lord and be renewed in His rest, we demonstrate our faith that God can empower us to be more effective in 23 hours of Spirit-filled service than the 24 hours that the world has without His indwelling presence. 

“It is the understanding that spending time in His presence does not diminish our productivity in life, but rather becomes the wellspring from which flows Spirit-empowered effectiveness and fruitfulness. It is the only abode of true rest.”—Bob Sorge

My Prayer

“I often feel exhausted, Lord. Many times, I feel over-stretched in many ways and often need the ‘tender-touch sauna of the Spirit of God’—to massage and heal my broken bones, frayed emotions, and over-active mind. So many pressures on the inside and outside keep trying to  draw me away from the rest I so desperately need. Oh, that I may learn and re-learn when to cease from my frenetic labors and hard pursuits after life—to stop and withdraw into the secret place. Only in Your secret place will I find the renewal and rest my soul and body so desperately needs. In the seasons that I practiced the disciplines of the secret place, my life was paced and measured, calm and controlled. In those days, the frustrations of life never penetrated the thick skin of my insulated spirit. But whenever I got carried away and tried to run life by my efforts, and I pulled away from operating from the secret place—the end was always disastrous: pain, broken relationships, indiscipline and nervousness. Lord, may I only launch out into life from Your presence, and may my launching out be bathed in Your presence. From spending quality times with You, may everything I touch reflect You and may Your light shine ever so brightly within me and around me. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.”

The Challenge

There yet remains a rest for God’s people. Labor to enter into His rest. Don’t labor for Your rest but labor in the secret place to enter His rest.