Peace in Rest

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel says:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.”
Isaiah 30:15

“Rest in Peace” is what we say to those who have passed from this world. Certainly those who have the salvation that comes from Christ alone will rest in peace for eternity. I look forward to that, but I don’t think God expects us to rest without peace while we are still living on this earth. As a matter of fact, Scripture speaks just the opposite. We are called (and commanded) to rest and to seek peace all of our days! Rest literally means peace of mind or spirit, so why is it that most of us struggle to feel that peace in our rest?

In Isaiah 30:15, the Hebrew word for rest is nahat, which is translated rest, peace, tranquility. But nahat can also mean coming down or descending. In each of its definitions there is a connotation of purposefulness. I must choose to rest; I must choose peace; and with that, I must also choose to come down.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 14:27
Jesus suggests in this verse that the way the world offers peace is not the way He offers it. He tells us draw away - or come down - from the world’s ways in order to rest in Him. He tells us in Matthew 12:28 that He is humble (or lowly) in heart, and it is because of this humility that we can find rest for our souls. The world is anything but humble. Instead, it calls us to lofty, high places that only bring anxiety, stress, and worry. If we are to find peace, we must nahat, come down.

In John, Jesus tells us that the things He is teaching are for the sake of peace of mind and spirit.
I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
John 16:33
He reminds us that we will still face all of the struggles of the world, but unlike those who do not have the peace that Christ offers, we have a place to lay those struggles down. The catch though, is that we must choose to lay them down. We can fight our own battles with worry and lack of peace, or we can take them to the One who has already won the war! Even though we know that we are called to turn our worries over to the Lord, it is not easy. In our humanness, we often feel the pull to handle it on our own. We can even feel that we are unable to let it go and give it to God. It is those times when we must rely on the Holy Spirit to intervene on our behalf. If we can nahat, come down from ourselves, hit our knees, cry out in groans (Romans 8:26), we will find the peace that we are looking for.

There can be peace in our rest here on this earth, but we must seek and pursue it!
Whoever would love life and see good days must . . . seek peace and pursue it.
1 Peter 3:10-11

Till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high. . .
The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.
Isaiah 32:15, 17-18