Entering into God’s Rest

If you’re not careful you’ll lose it…If you’re not careful, you’ll go over the deep end…If you’re not careful, you’ll expend all your energy and find that all your efforts have been in vain. This is what happens when you reach the point of burnout and you don’t know it.

A few years back, I was at the point of burnout. I was at the point where I almost lost it. I don’t know exactly what was on the verge of happening but I know it wasn’t going to be good. I was either going to check out early because my physical body just could not take the strain I had put it under, or I was going to have a nervous breakdown. This was all because I was not allowing myself to do the one thing even God Himself could not do without.

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 “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.” (Genesis 2:2)

I admit that, unlike God, I feel that the work is never finished. There is always something else that needs to be done…and it looks like I’m the only one that’s going to do it. And this has been a constant source of struggle for me. The battle to relinquish my control over everything and realize that sometimes, I have to let the chips fall where they may.

I read somewhere that that idiom was referring to when a woodcutter is chopping wood. He can’t worry about where the chips from the wood are falling; he just has to stay focused on cutting the logs so that he can get his job done.

Stick to your purpose. If you will just do what God has called you to do — playing your role in the “game of life” and not worrying about the outcome, you’ll be fine. The results are not in your control. The consequences have already been predetermined. You just need to know what to do and do it. Don’t worry about the rest.

 I believe that Kenny Rogers said it best:

“…You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em,

Know when to fold ‘em,

Know when to walk away,

And know when to run…”

 (Kenny Rogers “The Gambler” 1978)

There’s a time for everything; and if you don’t know when it is time for you to rest and take that time, you will lose it. You will die prematurely. And I’m not just talking natural premature death either. I’m talking death to your dreams and death to your destiny. Because by the time you work yourself to the bone, you’ll be too sick and tired to enjoy it. You may be thinking, “Yeah, I’ve heard this before,” but the question is, “Are you heeding what you’ve heard?”

You don’t want to be like the tribe of Isaachar in the Bible. These were the sons of Israel who knew the times and seasons — they knew what do, but they lacked aggression.

“And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do…” (1 Chronicles 12:32)

They had the revelation of what to do but they didn’t move on what they knew…and as a result, the Bible says they ended up in servitude.

 “Issachar…bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.” (Genesis 49:14-15)

If you don’t get your life in order and hollow out times and seasons to rest, you’ll find yourself in bondage. You will become a slave to the dream you’ve been pursuing.

During that season when I almost lost it, God’s saving grace gave me a wakeup call, and I finally decided to go away to a retreat center by myself. The Lord ministered to me while I was there:

“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10)

During that season, I began to learn something that ministry, mentors, and natural and spiritual mothers and fathers never taught me. I began to learn how to enter into the rest of God. And although my time there was a life-altering experience, it was only just the beginning.

I’ve just recently returned from another period away. I spent several days alone in God’s presence. I’m learning more and more what it means to enter into God’s rest.

Now, I still believe in the revelation of being a “doer;” someone who knows how to get it done. And the reality is, I don’t think there is anything wrong with that, especially considering all the “hyper-messaging” we’ve got going on…Way too many people on social media, podcasts, blogs, radio, and television trying to tell everybody what they should be doing with their lives… babbling about what should happen, or what they believe is about to happen…but I don’t see very many people making it happen!

So, yes, I still firmly believe in the doers’ call and anointing. But now, more than ever, I realize that this grace must submit itself under God’s rest as well.

Right now, as I’m writing to you, I feel like there’s a million things that need to be done. There are books that need to go to the printer, money that still needs to be raised for a property closing next week, children that need forms filled out, appointments made, things on their calendar that need to be placed on mine, bills to be paid, counseling meetings scheduled, business meetings conducted, family concerns, church concerns, health concerns…I mean, the list just goes on and on. However, the one thing I’ve discovered is that no matter what needs to get done, I have to make room to enter into His rest.

I want you to understand that entering into God’s rest is not just about spending time in prayer. I’m an intercessor — a prayer warrior. I’ve had a daily prayer line that will be twenty years old in February (not including the time not accounted for before that.) I spend time in prayer. However, the rest of God is a state of being.

It’s a mindset, condition, and attitude where you are hidden in Him. And when you are hidden in Him, NOTHING can affect you.

You know that you are not in His rest when you are worried and burdened down by the cares of life.

Learning how to enter into God’s rest is the best lesson I’ve learned in the Kingdom since renewing my mind.

It is my prayer that if you’ve made it this far in reading this blog, you too have realized that there’s a place in God you can’t live without either. It is a place where you’ll find perfect peace. You’ll be safe there. If you need to be refreshed and renewed, you can find it in this place. It’s the place of God’s rest. I hope, if you haven’t already, that you learn how to enter into it.

“For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” (Hebrews 4:10)

Love and Prayers,

Coach Kish

Licensed & Ordained Minister/Book Publishing Servicer/
Certified Life & Leadership Coach/
Bonafide Doer 

Dr. Kisia Coleman serves as the Lead Pastor of Kingdom Church Int’l., a non-denominational church in which she and her husband founded. Her job has encompassed many roles in leadership and the organization’s development. She is a Certified Life and Leadership Coach and the Founder of KishKnows, Inc., which has several divisions including consulting, coaching, and book publishing services. Dr. Kisia is also the author of several books and stage productions.  In both October 2012 and October 2013, she was the proud recipient of the Literary Award given by A.I.M. (Association of Independent Ministries) out of Houston, Texas.

Dr. Kisia and her husband live in a suburb of Chicago and are the blessed parents of five children: two boys and three girls, which include two orphaned nieces and a nephew that they have raised since the untimely deaths of the children’s parents.

 

DR. KISIA L. COLEMAN

 

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