Rest in a Restless World

Mita Duran was dead. The vibrant, 24-year-old Indonesian copywriter had simply collapsed at her desk. What had happened? 

Mita worked at an advertisement agency, where the expectations were high and the workload was heavy. Just before her death, she commented about her weariness on social media: “Tonight, I carry the keys to the office for the eighth day straight . . . . I have no life.”

She relied heavily on the caffeinated drink Krating Daeng, the Asian version of Red Bull. Her last online comment said, “30 hours of working and still going strooong.” She then collapsed at her desk and never woke up. 

What happened? Mita died of overwork.

Today, many of us have hectic schedules. Society urges us to work more, earn more, and buy more. We suffer from stress, insomnia, and mental taxation. 

We might not be killing ourselves like Mita Duran, but life can be a heavy burden. Is this what God intended for us? He is the Giver of Peace. When we overwork ourselves, are we feeling peaceful? Of course not!

If we are overwhelmed with exhaustion, it must be that we are forgetting something that God wants us to remember. Let us discover what He has said about rest. 

Hitting the “Pause” Button

God is Most Gracious and Most Merciful. He knew that humans need time to recharge their physical, mental, and spiritual energy, just like a cell phone or a laptop computer. Therefore, the prophet Moses (also known as Musa) recorded God’s command:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work (from the first part of the Bible, also known as the Tawrat: Exodus 20:8–10).

This unchangeable law of God tells us to remember the seventh day. According to many languages in the world, this seventh day dedicated to rest is called “Sabbath.” Why did God command us to remember it? Because He knows that forgetfulness has been an ongoing problem with humankind, starting from Adam. We must not forget the commandments of God, for only as we remember Him and His commandments will we be kept walking in the straight path.

But why is the Sabbath special? God tells us,

For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it (Exodus 20:11).

The Sabbath is an important reminder that God is the Creator. Some people object that since God does not get tired, He would not need to rest on the seventh day. But God did not rest from exhaustion; He paused His creative work so that He could make a holy time for us to rest.

God saw that a rest day is good for humankind. He made the seventh day a Sabbath, which means an intermission or a pause. Thus, the seventh day of every week is a special day to hit the “pause” button. We are to rest from work and non-sacred activities for an entire day to remember and worship Him. 

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if your boss or your professor commanded you to take more rest? Yet this is exactly what God has commanded! Praise be to God! He is indeed merciful! 

Keeping God’s Day Holy

The Sabbath is a universal sacred day for all people in the world. It was kept by monotheist believers in the one true creator God long before Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, or Hindus ever existed. In fact, it was given to all humankind when the world was created. Adam and Eve (also known as Hawwa) kept the Sabbath, and God has never given us permission to forget what He told us to remember. 

Unfortunately, the Sabbath has often been forgotten. The prophets warned the ancient Jews that God would bring destruction upon them if they forgot the Sabbath. They did not heed the warning, so Jerusalem was destroyed, and their families were carried away into captivity. Christians also forgot the Sabbath by changing their sacred day to Sunday in opposition to God’s commands. Muslims pray on Friday but have forgotten that we must rest on the seventh day to live in complete obedience to the Creator. 

Why does it seem like our whole world is forgetting this important day? Is there a more sinister cause for this widespread forgetfulness?

Jesus the Messiah (also called Isa al-Masih) warned us of a coming worldwide power that Satan (Shaytan) will use to turn our minds away from our Creator. Millions will be deceived into worshipping on a false sabbath. If Satan can get us to forget the Creator’s day, he hopes we will forget the Creator Himself. However, when we keep the true Sabbath, we show our loyalty to our Maker and enjoy the gift of rest, relaxation, and peace.

Entering God’s Rest

The Prophet Moses wrote that “the LORD blessed the seventh day” (Genesis 2:3). Are you tired and worn down? There are blessings in the Sabbath! 

Mita Duran, the copywriter from Indonesia, died from overworking—but you do not have to. God invites you to rest from your labors every week and experience the blessings of Sabbath. 

If you would like to learn more about how God gives us rest, peace, and healing, please contact us at the information on the back of this paper.