Renew Your Soul by Doing This One Thing

When I was a teenager I rode my bicycle all the way across Georgia and South Carolina in the summertime.

During those hot blistering days, I would come upon an old-fashioned country gas station with a shaded driveway. After a few minutes of rest in the shade and a cool drink, I was renewed for my next 20 miles of hot highway. In the same way, as you walk through the trials of this life, a little rest can renew your spirit for the next challenge, and a little shade can keep you going.

Listen to the promise of Jesus, “…My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.

[Paul responds] Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:9). Because Jesus is gracious, He allows His power to rest on us. The word rest (epi, upon; skene, a tent) has the unique meaning of “spreading a tent over me.” What does Jesus do when you are tired, worn out, and can’t take another step? He spreads a tent so you can rest. Fasting provides that cool resting place on a hot journey. When you fast, “the power of Christ rests upon you.”

 Next time you come apart from the heavy pressures of this world, rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. Stop pushing ahead, and rest alongside the road. Begin to fast and the Lord will cover you with His tabernacle of shade so you can be refreshed to return to the grind of work. Lord, there’s a little shade up the road; can I stop awhile and rest?

What is rest?

Rest is a quality of life that unsaved people do not know about, and most Christians have not experienced. After God completed the work of Creation in six days, He rested. “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done” (Gen. 2: 1-2 NKJV). Why did God rest? Obviously, God didn’t rest because He was exhausted; although sometimes you need rest when you’re tired. And obviously, God didn’t rest because He needed to renew His spent energy; whereas sometimes you need rest to replenish your strength. And there are other times you rest because you’re sick and need to break a fever or overcome a disease. Obviously, this also was not God’s purpose for resting. Still further, sometimes you rest to prepare yourself for hard work. This reason, of course, could not have been why God rested after Creation.

 God’s rest is peace, calmness, and serenity where you are in control of yourself and situation. Nothing is out of place, everything is right, and you are not threatened or pressured to do anything.

God rested because rest is what God does and who God is. When God rests, He is completely in control of Himself, and He controls all the world about Him. Everything is right, and He doesn’t need to do anything else. Lord, I want to rest, just like You rested.

Two kinds of rest

There is a rest that you will experience after completing your life on earth. All believers who die will enter that rest—the rest of Heaven. Our other rest is an analogy; it is the rest we have on earth. This rest is not a complete rest, nor is it a final rest. But it is a wonderful rest. When you experience tensions on this earth, you can enter into His rest. This is the rest promised by Jesus Christ. You receive rest through the Word of God, as you fast and read the Bible. You get rest through prayer as you fast and talk to Jesus. You obtain rest through surrender as you fast and yield your life up to Him. Lord, I surrender all.

Spiritual rest

You encounter spiritual rest in the Lord when you fast. And why is that? Fasting is a life-giving experience. When you fast, you give life to your soul and spirit; you renew yourself. While you can fast for physical reasons, such as breaking an addiction, meeting a financial need, or receiving an answer to an impossible prayer, there is a fast to know God intimately. It is this fast that leads to rest.

Many people don’t consider that you could ever gain rest from fasting; they instead dwell on the supposition that strength is being sapped from their body and pleasure is being denied from their taste buds because they are not eating. Rather, the opposite takes place. You enter into the rest that the Lord gives you. When Jesus said, “Take My rest upon you,” He did not intend that you should take a rest from work or a rest from your daily activities. But rather, you should rest from struggling with sin, rest from your wild imaginations, rest from your condemning conscience, and give rest to your striving heart. Finding rest in Jesus Christ is the ideal place for soul satisfaction. Lord, I feel good in Your presence.

What does it mean when the Scripture promises, “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God” (Heb. 4:9)? The word “rest” here is sabbatismos which is a “Sabbath rest.” This means much more than keeping the Sabbath laws. When God promises rest to His people, He declares they will (a) cease their work, (b) fellowship with the Lord, and (c) do what He did after creating the world. The rest is the rest of God Himself. Rest is what He did, and rest is what He offers you. When you rest in the Lord, you possess His life in you, and His work flows through you. When you enter into divine rest, you enter into God Himself, and you do what God did. Lord, I’m coming to rest in You.

 Fasting is so much more than not eating. By yielding to God and letting Him flow through you, you can enjoy rest and experience a oneness with God not previously felt.

Don’t measure your fasting by the food you give up, but by the fellowship you gain with God.

 When are you going to rest?

Some people, like Solomon, can be characterized as “a man of rest” (see 1 Chron. 22:9). Solomon’s father, David, had been a man of war. He had killed many and conquered much. But once Israel’s enemies were defeated and David passed from the scene, then came the calm kingdom of Solomon. He was a man of peace and rest, with no battles to fight. Are you characterized as a person of peace and rest like Solomon? Or are you considered to be a person of battles and wars? Do you continually strive for more material possessions…a bigger car, a bigger house?

Do you constantly strive after promotions? Will you always want better…but you’re not sure what better means? You can become a person of rest as you fast. Why? Because you put aside the most basic human pursuit of all—food; and you pursue God for who He is. Lord, make me a person of rest.

Resting for refreshment.

When we rest, we are refreshed. Paul says in Second Corinthians 7:13b, “Because his [Titus] spirit was refreshed by you all.” Titus received something from the believers at Corinth—he was refreshed. What can that mean to you? When you seek God and fast with Him, you can be refreshed. If you are tired, your vigor will be restored. Have you felt a little dull and discouraged in your Christian walk? Then fast to be revived.

 Not only will your spirit be restored, but your body also will be refreshed when you fast. Your digestive system rests, as well as the pressures of your heart, lungs, and elimination system. Without having to struggle to ingest new food, the whole body takes a rest.

 The word refreshed also means to grasp a new vision of what you can accomplish. Tired aching bones and muscles remind you of things you can’t do. But rest and refreshment will enable you to assume responsibility for bigger tasks with the assurance you can do it. So fast if you have soul-aches, and fast if you are ministry-tired. Do you need refreshment? Fast to restore strength in God Himself.

Resting from your struggle

Some of you are still struggling with the battles of life. Perhaps you are fighting addiction, or maybe you’re struggling because someone has lied about you. Maybe someone wants your job. So you’re striving just to hang on. Rest is available to you. Jesus said, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11:28). Jesus is speaking to those whose lives are filled with anxiety. Although the things people struggled with in Jesus’ day might have been different than our day, the internal pressure is fundamentally the same. Whether is it the “lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, or the pride of life,” we all struggle to overcome our weakness and sinful nature. If you’re still struggling with your desires, consider God’s promise:

 “Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it” (Heb. 4:1 NKJV). God assures that He will give you rest.

 Where is rest found? In Jesus! Remember His invitation, “Come unto Me.” How do you get close to Jesus? When you fast to seek His presence, you move beyond singing about Him in church and hearing about Him in a sermon. In the privacy of your quiet time, you intimately talk with Him. When you fast, you stop pleasing the body and you seek to please God Himself. When was the last time you had an intimate talk with Jesus?

Resting to overcome work, pain, or battle

Have you ever worked in the yard until you were so tired you had difficulty standing up? Even after you were exhausted, you drove yourself to cut just a little more of the lawn to finish the job. Maybe you were digging a hole and had just a few more feet to shovel. Maybe you were driving home late at night and didn’t want to stop and check into a motel. Whatever the occasion, you pushed your body past the limits. Even though you couldn’t take it any longer, you still pressed a little farther. In that excruciating experience, what you wanted most of all was rest.

Let’s relate this physical pain to spiritual pain. Have you ever struggled against a problem that you didn’t know what to do? Have you ever fought against a habit so much that you wanted to die? What must you do? Fast. When you fast, you turn your back on the pressures of this world. You completely yield yourself and your future to God, then you determine to follow God’s principles to trust Him with your future. You find rest when you enter this commitment experience. You enter the same kind of experience when you commit yourself to fast for deliverance from spiritual pressures. God promises, “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God” (Heb. 4:9). Lord, I’m tired.

Earlier we described rest as a quality of God. This means that when you fast, you enter into God’s rest and begin to experience your world the way God sees things and feel about your world. Your victory is not in your rest, but your victory is in His rest.

 When rest is necessary

There are times when rest is not just something to be enjoyed or desired, it is absolutely necessary. When Jesus saw the weariness of His disciples in ministry, He said, “…Come…apart…and rest a while” (Mk. 6:31a). He knew they needed rest and He went with them because He also needed rest. Rest was getting away from the ministry that was draining them of their strength and determination. Lord, I’m drained.

Fasting can allow you to get away from your humdrum existence, or remove yourself from the pressures of life. When you fast from earthly food, you feed upon the Bread of Life, the Lord Jesus Christ, and you drink the water of life, the Holy Spirit. When you just can’t go any farther, you need to “come apart” and fast awhile. There you’ll find rest.

 Rest prepares you for the future

To make it through some days, you need a little rest in the middle of the afternoon. Those few moments of rest give you strength to complete the day. Most Americans call it “coffee break.” Whether you’re sweating out in the sun, or sitting in an air-conditioned office, you need a rest break to revive your spirit and direct your focus to the next task. Perhaps that’s what fasting will do for you. When you need to get ready for the next great task, fast for it.

 An example of fasting to prepare for the future is illustrated many years ago when I wrote the program Friend Day, which was sold to over 40,000 churches. It was a plan of friendship evangelism that involved every person in a church bringing a friend on a special day called Friend Day. The purpose was to win people to Christ through existing relationships. I instructed the pastors to take off either Friday or Saturday before Friend Day to spend the day in fasting and prayer for a successful campaign. Because there would be many unsaved people in church, the pastor needed the power of God on his ministry. Is that power also available to you? Yes, by prayer and fasting. You can prepare for your next level of service by fasting and prayer. Lord, I will prepare for the giant challenges of life by fasting.

Resting makes you feel good

How do you feel when you work all day? Whether you’ve had pressure at the office or your muscles ache from physical work, you usually look forward to going to bed and resting. Usually when I am tired the most, I enjoy my bed the most. For the first few moments after I crawl between clean sheets, I relish the experience. I can feel every muscle in my body relaxing; it’s as though I am slowly sinking into the mattress. In just a short time, the inviting sheets are warmed by my body temperature. Then in that toasty cocoon, I enjoy my comfy bed. It doesn’t take long before I drift into sleep and I get rest for the next day.

In the same way, I look forward to fasting and communion with God. There are some people that feel that fasting is physical pain, or even torture. I find it a comfortable experience.

Sometimes I have to admit that my calendar squeezes my quiet time. I wake up in the morning and immediately think about an important meeting I need to attend or a lecture I want to review. So, I consider hurrying through my quiet time with God so that I can get on with my life. It’s then that I have to learn the lesson of seeking God for the pleasure of His company. It’s then I gain the rest from Him that makes me feel good for the day. Lord, I feel comfortable in Your presence.

 Resting is a command

Fasting is not an easy thing to do because your physical body cries out, “I’m hungry.” But you obey the command of God, “Seek ye My face,” and you respond like the Psalmist, “Thy face, Lord, will I seek” (Ps. 27:8). Even though you have chosen to stop eating to seek God, it is God who motivates you to go without food to seek His face. You must understand, “It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13, emphasis mine). We are commanded to, “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” (Ps. 37:7a). Since we are commanded to rest in the Lord, we know that rest is obtainable. Are you tired today? Why don’t you rest in God. Lord, I’m tired, refresh me.

Restoring your soul

When you are spiritually drained, what do you do? Fast! When you feel your heart is empty so that your prayers bounce off the ceiling, what do you do? Fast! When you learn that the Lord is your Shepherd, then you find yourself saying, “I shall not want.” When you find yourself following your Shepherd beside still waters, what do you receive? “He restoreth my soul” (see Ps. 23).

Notice what the Shepherd will do to draw you close to Him. The Bible says, “He maketh me to lie down.” He “makes” you lie down in green pastures where there is food for you to eat—He makes you rest. The Shepherd does not pull your legs out from under you so that you drop down, nor does He push you over until you fall down. How then does He do it? He leads me to green pastures where there is food. Since I am hot and tired, I will naturally want to lie down in the cool green grass to get something to eat. Because I’m tired, I want to lie down. He doesn’t force me to lie down; He leads me to green pastures where He knows I’ll naturally lie down.

God does not force you to fast, but He will make you tired so that you will want to rest in Him. It is then you fast. He makes you hungry, then leads you to the place where you want to eat. Have you been eating spiritual food lately? Have you been enjoying His presence? If not, follow Him beside still waters so you can have rest. Lord, make a place for me to lie down, I’m coming to You.

Notice Psalm 23 doesn’t describe the Lord leading you by the oceans to tempt you to go swimming nor does He lead you by a powerful rushing river to teach you about His magnificent creative ability. He doesn’t even lead you by a waterfall so you can enjoy its artistic beauty. He leads you by still waters so you can rest. Maybe even sleep. It’s restful here in Your presence, Lord; why can’t I stay here?

 A shepherd doesn’t let his sheep stay by still waters though. He leads you beside the still waters, which means He leads you past still waters, back out into the hectic world. You can’t fast forever, and you can’t spend all day in your quiet time. He will lead you to the still waters, then lead you away from still waters. You go there to rest and drink, and then you need to move on with your life. Lord, it’s hard to leave Your presence.

You can’t live forever in a monastery, you’ve got a job and work to do. You may have a family that needs your care. So the Lord leads you beside still waters, which means you can rest a day or two, or a week or two, to be restored to move on. “But Lord, it’s so good to stay here, why can’t we pitch a tent here like Peter wanted to pitch a tent on the Mount of Transfiguration?” (Mt. 17:4, author’s translation).

You come into His presence to get rest and revitalization, then it’s time to move on. You fast to learn how the Lord leads and where the Lord leads, then pack up your tent to go about your obligations.

 Rest from the tyranny of sin and slavery. Sin is not a kind master. First it flirts with you by enticement, and then attracts you with its pleasures. But like a hot bath, it’s not so hot after you’re in for awhile. Sin is not alluring once you drink deeply. In fact, sin is a very hard taskmaster that will physically brutalize you, emotionally devastate you, and spiritually bankrupt you.

For those in sin God says, “…Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls…” (Jer. 6:16). This rest is not for those on the journey of faith, but for those who are wrestling with sin. This is the rest from sin, this is the rest that you get from repentance.

Perhaps you are addicted and can’t break from those chains. You used to be free, but now you are enslaved to your habit. You used to take a drink of liquor, but now drink takes you. You sucked on a cigarette, but now you are the addicted sucker. Your integrity has been drugged, and you have been dragged through the streets. What do you do?

 You fast to break addiction, however this is not an easy fast, nor is it an automatic success. Just as addiction came one cigarette at a time, so freedom comes one step at a time. That means that spiritual freedom comes one day at a time. Even when you get victory, it is temporary; you enjoy victory one day at a time.

I think it might be better for the person who has been addicted physically to drugs, alcohol, or tobacco, to fast one day each week for 40 weeks, rather than fast once for 40 days. However, all addictions are different, and you may need to fast differently. I don’t recommend any fasting for 40 days without seriously considering what you are doing and being carefully led of the Lord. Only a few should attempt this fast because it is so severe. But on the other hand, it may take that severe prescription to break your addiction.

Perhaps you are fasting because there is something in your inner life that you need to conquer. Or maybe there is something in your world that you need to overcome. So you fast to get God’s help to conquer yourself or get victory over your world. And what do you get when you have become a conqueror? You get rest. Rest is that quality of God that you appropriate when you spend time in fasting and seeking His heart. You put aside food and the pursuit of physical satisfaction to search for the presence of God. Those who have never properly fasted have probably never attained this level of peace.

God promises you rest. If you are a slave to an addiction, you can be suddenly set free. Not only will you see yourself as free, but you will feel it and know it internally. You will rest in your freedom. Do you need rest? Have you been a slave to addiction? Why don’t you fast to find rest in the Lord.

Rest is a wonderful anticipation to those who are so tired they can hardly stand up. Every ache in their body cries out for rest. And when rest finally comes, it’s such a relief that they usually drift into sleep. Unfortunately then, the experience of rest is gone because while sleeping they are not aware of anything.

The greatest thing about rest is its anticipation, not its realization. Isn’t that true about a lot of things in life? God gives us the anticipation of rest to help us get through the drudgery of pain along the journey.

One day we will have perfect…soothing…snoozing… rest. I can hardly wait! But there’s something greater than rest, it’s God Himself. One day we’ll have the passion of our hearts—perfect communion with God.