Restful Hours Because Jesus is Ours

At Central, we tend to set July and August apart in our ministry calendar as a season of rest. It’s a time when many of our regular ministries pause for a breath or occur less frequently. In fact, I’m writing this devotional at the beginning of summer so that those involved in the Challenge Central devotional ministry (myself included!) can take a rest.

As I look ahead to summer, knowing this will be published near summer’s end, I have some questions for my future self:

• Was summer what you expected?
• Do you feel more rested than you did in June?
• How did you spend your 2023 season of rest?

Maybe some of these questions resonate with you as well. How would you answer them? The idea of rest has always puzzled me. That’s probably because I’m not great at doing it, but I sure do want to get better. Hebrews 3 and 4 have become an important key to my growing understanding of how to rest in a culture where the clock seems to be king.

The writer of Hebrews draws a shocking conclusion about the generation of Israelites who died in the wilderness because they disobeyed God (Numbers 14:34; 32:13). He writes that they were unable to enter God’s rest “because of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:19). Their restless and futile wandering was a result of not taking God at his word.

Two Greek words have helped me understand why this can be such a big problem:

1. Kairos (καιρός), which means ‘appointed time or season.’ This is sanctified time; time set apart for a purpose—like the author of Ecclesiastes was referring to when he wrote, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven …” (see Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).
2. Chronos (χρόνος), which simply means ‘time.’ This is the passing of time or perhaps the measure of passing time—like the seconds ticking by on a clock.

I find that I often get caught up in the struggle to manage my passing time at the expense of the sanctified moment. Maybe you feel the same. What I am beginning to understand from these two words is that God has set apart, or sanctified, certain times in my life for specific purposes. So when I race through a conversation, over-schedule my day, or neglect to leave room for things that really matter, I am not trusting God. It is as if I would rather count the minutes passing (chronos) and race to the next thing than trust that God has numbered my days (kairos) for a wise purpose (Psalm 90:12).

So I want to “strive to enter that rest” (Hebrews 4:11) not just by scheduling my time better but by being with Jesus more. It seems counter-intuitive, but it’s not. We begin to rest when we “draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). This is an attitude of prayer that permeates every aspect of our lives. It is a recognition and savouring of Jesus’ promise to those who labour and are weary that in coming to him, we will find rest for our souls (Matthew 11:28-29). This is something we practice during those sanctified times so that we can continue doing it during the chronos-grind of everyday life.

So here’s our challenge, Central: Tell someone how you’ve been living in your sanctified time this summer. Ask them about their time. And ask yourself, ‘How will I live in my God-sanctified time during the coming weeks and months?’

The rest is not in the hours, Central; it’s living out the reality that Jesus is ours.