REST “Today, if you will hear His voice: do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, when your fathers tested Me; they tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved [disgusted] with that generation, and said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest’” (Psalm 95:7-11). “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:11 NKJV). “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11: 28 NKJV). The Israelites were in the wilderness, had no water to drink, and were afraid they were going to die (See Exodus 17:1-7). They tested God by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” Their souls had no rest because they didn’t believe that the Lord was with them and that He’d take care of them. He did give them water for their physical thirst, but until they saw the miracle, their unbelief kept their souls in turmoil. Lack of trust in God’s provision can also lead to discontentment. It’s interesting to note that in Hebrews 13:5, God doesn’t just command us to be content and not covet. He, aware of our tendency to fear that our needs will be left unmet, adds, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” He understands that faith and trust are hard, and He gently reassures us that though He’s invisible, He’s a very present help in trouble (see Psalm 46:1). Life brings tests of faith, and it’s easy to think that God has abandoned us and won’t meet our needs. We must be diligent to seek His loving face, and believe the truth that the One who delivered His Son to death for our salvation will also freely give us all things (Romans 8:32).