Rest is a Weapon

Photo By Emma

I wrote recently on the power of rest, and I feel in my spirit, that there’s much more to be said. In Psalm 23:2, it says, “He makes me lie down in green pastures.”  The phrase, “He makes me lie down,” comes from the Hebrew word, “rabats” which means to lie down, recline, or stretch oneself out. The word “pastures” comes from the Hebrew word, “naveh” which means abode, habitation, dwelling, abiding. 

In my journey with the Lord, I’ve realized this personality trait of my Shepherd and how He makes me to lie down. When you get to know Jesus, He introduces you to rest. Our flesh fights against rest, because religion has instilled such a duty-oriented relationship. But as we get to know Jesus, we come to this place of being made to lie down. There’s so many mornings, now more than ever, where I sit and take my Bible and my journal, and I just hear Him whisper, “I want you to lie down.”  There’s such a freedom and intimacy as we lie down and just be with Him. He has made me to lie down. And the pasture in which I lie is a pasture of life. It is a pasture where I find myself the most at home. My soul finds rest in the pasture of His abiding love. I am at home when I lie down. I believe it takes maturity to come to this place. It did for me. Rest came later for me, but once I found this place, I’ve realized that it is the most powerful. The intimacy of resting with the Lord and not having to do a thing but just letting Him love you is the ultimate joy. I think about how He promises, “seek Me with all of your heart and you will find Me.”  At the beginning we seek. We seek. And we seek. And just as He promises, there comes a time where He is found. And when He is found everything changes. The seeking doesn’t stop, it only intensifies. For once He is found, you realize He’s the only thing ever worth seeking. Everything becomes dimmer as He becomes illuminated beyond measure. When you’ve found Him, you will spend your life ever seeking Him because His beauty and His love is the only treasure worth finding. Seeking Him feels like an obligation until you find Him. And when you find Him, it shifts. And it’s like you can’t even breathe without Him. He becomes everything. Absolutely everything. His love is all-consuming. And in this place, He is your Shepherd leading every detail of your life. And in this place, you realize that you lack nothing. Satisfaction does not come through earthly things. Satisfaction that fills the soul only comes through Jesus. Until you find Him, you will always be lacking. But when He’s found, every well of your heart is filled and rivers of living water come forth from your belly. It feels like an overflow of joy, and peace, and love everyday. Jesus changes everything. When He’s found, He will reign forever on the throne of your heart. He will never take second place. When you see Him, you drop your nets. You drop what’s in your hands. And you follow Him. 

There’s a powerful passage of scripture in Psalm 68:11-12, “the Lord gave the command; a great company of women brought the good news:  ‘the kings of the armies flee- they flee! She who stays at home divides the spoil.” 

The phrase “she who stays at home” is derived from the same Hebrew word “naveh” as the one lying in the green pasture. The woman at rest divides the spoil. The woman that’s lying down plunders the enemy. When armies would win a battle they would take the gold and silver and other costly items of the ones they defeated and this was called the spoils of war. “She who stays at home divides the spoil.”  The woman that stays in a place of rest and continual habitation with Jesus is the woman that takes back everything the enemy has stolen. This woman at rest divides the spoil. This woman at home divides the spoil. Do you see how powerful rest is?  Do you see how this place of lying in the green pasture is what plunders the gates of hell?  It is a place of love. It is a place of intimacy. It is a place where she knows who she is in Him. This place is powerful. I propose that in this season of extreme heat where the sun is scorching down as if it were the noon hour, that rest is our weapon. The women at home divide the spoil. 

I hear the call of the Bride to her Bridegroom, “Tell me, You whom I love: where do you pasture your sheep? Where do you make it lie down at noon?” Song of Solomon 1:7

There is a hunger for rest in this hour. And as the Lord makes us to lie down, we will enter into greater victory than ever before as we plunder hell through our rest. 

The Lord spoke these words in Exodus 3:22, “But every woman shall insistently ask her neighbor and any woman who lives in her house, for articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and daughters. In this same way you are to plunder the Egyptians leaving bondage with great possessions that are rightfully yours.” 

At this time, the Egyptians had stolen the houses and possessions of God’s people and He was instructing the women before leaving Egypt to plunder their houses taking back what was theirs and to put it upon their sons and daughters. So too are we, being called right now to plunder our enemy and take back everything that was stolen. This is for the inheritance of our children. They will not be stolen from. Not on our watch. Rest, mama. Find the place in the green pasture and lie down. For from this place of habitation and ever resting in the love of Jesus, we will plunder the enemy. The gates of hell shall not prevail. 

-Brittany Elmer