Rest in Peace; Five Ways to Contemplate

An epitaph that typically appears on headstones is “Rest in Peace,” or often abbreviated as R.I.P. It typically means eternal rest and peace to someone who has died. When one considers their stance as believers in Christ, eternal rest is a reality and something we embrace and oftentimes long for. This eternal rest in peace is observed in the Old Testament book of Isaiah, “Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death” (Isaiah 57:2).

The question now becomes, can we believers rest in peace while we remain here?

There is a weariness we experience from life itself, and I am not just talking about physical fatigue. We are bombarded with pressures and problems constantly. Therefore, we desire inner tranquility and serenity. Now with regard to the previous question, can we rest in peace while we still remain on this earth? The answer is a resounding yes. Our rest is in Christ.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

The God of the universe is calling the weary of the earth to come to Him. There is rest available to us that is spiritual rest, or soul rest. But today do we experience this kind of rest for our souls? There is a struggle many of us Christians encounter in this fast paced world of ours and that is finding, what I’ll define as, our rest in peace.

What is it that you are heavy-laden with? What is it that you need rest from? God makes promise after promise to us in the scriptures. In other words, whatever is causing you to feel heavy-laden, or whatever it is that you need rest from there is a promise in His word for you.

Let’s start our “rest in peace” by first contemplating these points:

• “Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). As believers we have the rest of salvation which means we have peace with God. To elaborate, we have life and peace in the presence of the Father, Son and Spirit forever.
• “But He Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray” (Luke 5:16). Jesus sought solace and time alone with the Father. In the same way, we need to practice coming to Him daily and spend quiet quality time. What this means is we do not have to bear our burdens alone. “And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31a).
• “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). Submitting to Him is taking his yoke, and submitting to His authority in our lives. Next, Jesus says to learn from Him. Learning from Jesus goes hand in hand with finding rest. We learn about His goodness, His love, His grace, His patience, His justice, His gentleness. We come to learn that his thoughts toward us are immeasurable, “How precious also are Thy thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!” (Psalm 139:17).
• “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). The sabbath is considered a day of rest as God rested on the seventh day after creation. Although the primary meaning of sabbath means to cease from all work, nevertheless, it is a good idea to rest from something one day a week. Sunday, which is our traditional day to worship and assemble together as Christians, is a good time to put into practice resting from a routine, or particular tasks that you would normally do throughout the week.
• “The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in Thee” (Isaiah 26:3). Keeping our minds on Jesus throughout the day can be challenging when so many thoughts are vying for our attention. By prayer, memorizing and meditating on scripture, listening to Christian music and radio, we can keep our hearts and minds at rest as we go about our busy days. If there are distractions that keep you from resting in Christ, you may want to consider limiting or removing them.

The rest that is available in Christ boils down to having a relationship with Him, and learning of Him. Furthermore, the more we see God’s loving hand at work in our lives and learn to trust Him, the more we can rest in peace. There will be many times we need relief, refreshment and rejuvenating. Jesus bids us to come away from the world and fellowship with Him. This will enable our souls to rest in peace.

Rest by Denny Correll- click on for song
(A brother in Christ who has moved on to his eternal rest)

“My beloved spoke and said to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me” (Song of Solomon 2:10).