Finding Rest For Your Soul

In Mark 6:31 Jesus tells his apostles to come away with Him to a "desolate place and rest a while." In the Greek, desolate means "secluded, solitary," and even "wilderness." Often not the words we think of when we hear about the abundant Christian life. However, it is in the quiet that we can find rest and tune in to His voice.

What does your time with God currently look like? Are you distracted, often reaching for your phone? Do you try and fit it in between a load of laundry and the kids' nap schedule? When you think of the word "wilderness," does it bring fear?

We see in Genesis 16:13 that it was in the wilderness Hagar experienced such deep intimacy with the Lord. So much so that she called him El Roi, "the God who sees me." It was also in the wilderness where God spoke to Abraham and met with Elijah. In fact, a lot of what we learn about God's unfailing character, in the Old Testament especially, happened within the wilderness. In the perhaps desolate or solitary moments.

And last but certainly not least, it was in the wilderness Jesus prepared for ministry.

Today, I want to challenge you to give God five straight minutes of quiet.

Set a timer on your phone and just sit with Him. Open up the Word, put on a worship playlist on in the background, or both. The purpose is to come away with Him; to have time alone with your Father, so that He may give you rest.

We try and find rest scrolling through our phone, by binging a Netflix series, or venturing to a spa. While all those things may be relaxing, they cannot give you true rest, only your Father in Heaven can. Even in the wilderness, God offers us rest.

Let's pray this together:

"You are El-roi. You see me and know me. You invite me to come away with You, and today I want to find rest in You. Would You fill me up and speak to my heart, oh Lord? In Jesus' name, amen."

Get in the practice of five minutes a day. Not only will you have zero regrets, but I also imagine your timer is going to get longer and longer as you experience His kindness and rest.

Meet the Author
Allicia Bankuti

Allicia Bankuti lives in Westport, Ontario and has been serving full-time with an inner healing ministry for 12 years.  After walking a journey of healing and restoration in her own life, Allicia realized she was dissatisfied with what the world had to offer and gave up her dream of being in advertising to pursue God full time in ministry. Allicia’s heart is to see people of all ages passionately run after God and to see His love and healing reach a broken world. When she isn’t teaching or ministering, Allicia can be found watching cheesy Hallmark films (seriously, the cheesier the better), photographing weddings or on a basketball court with her wonderful boyfriend and his two amazing boys.