Promised Rest in the Names of God

Rest can be promised to one another, yet those promises are not always kept.  My children promise me rest when they assure me they will get their chores done. The time they spend doing chores would open time for me to rest on my back deck with a book—if they did them.

The principals at the school where I teach promise me prep time as a substitute teacher where I can take a breath. However, sometimes circumstances dictate otherwise. 

I promise my husband I will get the lawn mowed so he can rest on the weekends. However, sometimes my best-laid plans do not come to fruition.

God has also promised us rest. The rest He promises is not a wish or desire for us, but a guarantee. While we fail one another, God keeps His promise to us. We can be sure of the rest He promises because He has already completed the work that needed to be done. 

In her newest book, Promised Rest: Finding Peace in God’s Presence, Michele Diercks highlights the rest and peace God promises to us. She does not give a list of things that you must do to have this rest. Instead, she points her readers to God and all the things He is and does for His creation. Each chapter highlights a name of God and what it tells us about Him—who He is, what He has done, what He will do, and what He is doing for us.

Elohim: He Is Our Creator

We rest in knowing He is our Creator. We find rest in the knowledge that we do not need to be a creator of good things. Elohim is the Creator of good things. We can find rest in His good things as we look at nature, breathe in the fresh air, hear the sound of the waves, feel the wind, and rest in His creation. We are not the creators of the natural world or our faith. Our faith was created by God and given to us in our Baptism.  We find our rest in those baptismal promises.

El Shaddai: He Is Our Sustainer

We rest, remembering that He not only created us but sustains us. While He brings those around us, such as our children, spouse, church family, and neighbors, to aid us, they are not our sustainers. When these people fail to give us rest, we look to El Shaddai as our Sustainer. We do not need to look at our circumstances or what we have prepared for the future to find rest. El Shaddai will sustain us, our faith, and provide our rest. 

El Roi: He Sees Us

We rest in knowing that He sees us. We go through our days and the struggles that come with them wondering if anyone knows. We rest knowing that the God who created us and sustains us also sees us. He has seen us since He created us. The work He does in our lives is not done blindly. 

Jehovah Jireh: The Lord Will Provide

We rest knowing that He will provide for us. We look back at the cross and know He provided the sacrifice needed for us to have rest. We do not need to work to earn that rest. The God who sees all of our lives provides for us without asking us to prove anything. Christ’s death on the cross guarantees that rest, and we have the same assurance that Abraham did as he walked up the mountain with his son.

We rest in knowing that the Lord has provided and will provide.

These are just a few of the names Michelle teaches in her upcoming book. The whole book is filled with reminders of who God is and the work He has done for us. It points us over and again to the rest we have because of Christ and His work in our lives.

Order your copy of Promised Rest and discover the different names and characteristics of God that provide you with rest by clicking the button below.