I received a letter from a woman who was worried about her husband, an evangelist who has worked abroad as well as in this country. She wrote how he used to be on fire for the Lord but is not that way anymore. She said that he is lacking in the compassion and commitment he once had and, for the last three years, he has suffered with broken emotions, burn out and depression. She went on to tell that it is now a struggle for him even to ask for prayer.

What happened to that man is happening to many Christian workers who try to do their work for the Lord rather than letting the Lord do His work through them. God did not call workers into His Harvest Field to relentlessly push themselves into a burnout; that is the way the world operates. If you are attending a church where the pastor is working his head off, all caught up in programs, rushing here and there, going day and night in the fast lane . . . don't praise him for that; tell him to stop being so worldly.

There are big ministries that, from all outward appearances, seem to be thriving. They display impressive financial statements, huge memberships, and great accomplishments in the sight of men. But their leaders, instead of being able ministers of the grace of God, are masterful organizers who goad people into service rather than leading them into a life of resting in the finished work of Christ. When one of these ministries fails, many think it is a big setback for the work of the Lord, when it is really a failure working for good.

Christian service can give someone a good feeling and can have a good appearance--and be highly addictive! The Bride of Christ has overindulged; she has become an addict. She is intoxicated with service. It dominates her mind; if she doesn't keep busy, she fears she will slip into depression. Motivated by nervous energy, she says, "Oh, how I want to get into the service of the Lord! Pastor . . . do you have anything for me to do?!" Then, if her pastor is "pushing" service, he will give her a dose of a "service" drug, and she will feel better--until she needs another fix!

I have heard many Christians tell how hard they are working for the Lord and boast of the thriving ministry they have; I seldom hear anyone say how they are in a place of rest, enjoying the love of God!

Just this morning a Christian friend of mine stopped by the house. As we sat at the kitchen table, I noticed he didn't look too well, but I didn't mention it to him; that was not what he needed to hear. He began to tell of some of his problems. Then he stopped and said, "I am so tired; I have so much fear and anxiety. Oh, how tired I am; I need to find rest!"

He is not alone; the whole world is reeling with anxiety--and with good reason. All the crime, violence, hatred and perversion flooding across the land is causing much anguish in the hearts of people of all ages. Anxiety and stress take a terrible toll on the body and the mind. We were not created to live in such an atmosphere, but rather in a peaceful environment, under the loving care of God.

That is the way it should be but that is not the way it is, due to man's determination to be independent from God. Many little children, who should be carefree, are filled with fear and stress. They are not stressful just because of the precarious condition of the world; anxiety has rubbed off on them from their parents--it is highly contagious. If you want to see how quickly it can spread to you, try working with a person who is driven by nervous energy.

Anxiety is an affliction that can make communication difficult between a mother and a child. It puts a strain on a kid when he feels responsible for bringing a panic attack upon his parents by something he tells them. I can remember, as a child, not wanting to say anything to my mother to cause her to become anxious. Worry has been my mother's companion as long as I can remember. Over the years, I have been the one who has had the task of breaking upsetting news to her, and I find it just as hard to tell her bad news now as when I was a kid. Recently, when my brother was about to go through a serious operation, every family member I talked with advised me not to tell my mother about it until the operation was over and he was well on the way to recovery. One day I said to her, "Mom, do you want me to keep things from you that I know will upset you?" Her reply was, "No, I want you to tell me. If you keep things from me, I will just imagine things to worry about!"

About seven years ago, because of a heart condition, she was given only three to six months to live. The doctor said that due to her condition, which was brought on by anxiety, she was not strong enough to be operated on, so they treated her heart ailment and her anxiety with medication. He prescribed so many drugs for her that she became like a zombie. Finally, he took her off all the drugs he was giving her for her anxiety, and she has had a remarkable improvement. Anxiety is still a problem, but its attacks are less severe. I was encouraged one day when she told me she is learning to give her worries to Jesus.

A few years ago, during a sleepless night, she was lying in her bed worrying with one arm stretched out over the side. It was about two in the morning when, suddenly, the Lord appeared beside her and held her hand for a long period of time. The Bible says, "For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee" (Isa:41:13). Now, that is the kind of medicine the Lord gives!

Anxiety is not to be taken lightly; it is a killer. Some doctors have discovered that the best medicine they can prescribe for a patient who is stressed-out is to have them go to a health center where they will learn to slow down and live. Proper ways to eat and exercise are taught at these places, but the first objective is to deal with the anxiety that is driving them to self-destruct.

Such centers are springing up throughout the country; most require at least a three-month stay and are very expensive. There are insurance companies that will pay for the entire cost for certain clients to go there, especially the ones with heart ailments. These companies have found that this kind of treatment is more effective and is much cheaper than the cost of a heart operation.

If you have a problem with anxiety, don't feel bad if you cannot afford to go to one of these establishments, because true rest cannot be purchased. Things such as drugs, group therapy, a healthy diet and yoga are some of man's ways to try to get relief from fear, anxiety and depression; but God has a better remedy. Jesus said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Mat. 11:28). True rest is a gift from the Lord. We cannot earn it; we do not deserve it. And it is right there waiting for us in our inheritance that was bequeathed to us through the death and resurrection of Christ.

Many people are trying to find rest for their soul outside of God, but that is an impossibility. Man does not want to deal with the sin issue that has separated him from God. Society tries to solve its problems without dealing with the fact that man has a sinful nature. Humanism states that man is basically good, but the word of God says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jer. 17:9) Satan, working through the deceitful heart of man, has come up with many ways to try to lure people into a false type of peace, which cannot bring true rest to the soul. The Bible says, "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked" (Isa.57:20,21).

There is no changing our sinful nature inherited from Adam. Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again" (John 3:7). When we receive Christ as Savior, our sinful heart (nature) doesn't get better; it gets crucified on the cross with Christ. Then, God gives us a new nature as His Spirit enters us, and we become a new creation (Rom. 6:6; 2Cor.5:17).

I feel sorry for people who do not know the Lord; they really have it rough. I don't know how anyone can survive in this insane world without knowing Jesus! It is understandable why they are stressed out, but what is hard to comprehend is why God's people are suffering so much with fear and anxiety.

Perhaps it is because the beautiful Bride of Christ is tired. The condition of this world is getting to her, the organized church is working her to death, and Satan is constantly warring against her. She longs to get out of this world, have her new body, and be in Heaven with her Bridegroom. The problem she is having is not so much with the past or future; it is dealing with the present.

Sometimes when I am alone, driving on a long trip, I get pretty tired. What a welcome sight it is to see a road sign that says REST AREA AHEAD. When a sign like that comes into view, I will slow down, then pull in and stop, climb into the back of my van, spread out one of those portable chairs that turns into a mattress, and collapse upon it. Oh, what a relief it is! I usually fall sound asleep for about twenty minutes; then I wake up refreshed and ready to hit the road again.

Now, if man can make rest areas for tired motorists and build centers for insurance companies to send their burned out clients to, don't you think the Lord has furnished a place for His children who are in need of rest? The Bible says, "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God" (Heb.4:9).

Oh, how good the Lord is to us! This place of rest He has provided is exclusively for the people of God; the world does not know of its existence. It is a place where there is no anxiety, no guilt, no condemnation, and where all needs are provided for by the hand of God! Most Christians do not believe such a place exists for them while they are here on earth; they think it is simply too good to be true.

This place may sound like Heaven, but it is not. (It is good, but not that good!) It is an area for people to live in after they are born again into the family of God and are still here on earth. Such a place was not always available, for it was brought forth through the New Covenant, which was ushered in with the Resurrection of Christ! What a tragedy it is when a Christian misses out on this glorious place of rest. Every child of God will make it to Heaven; that is a promise from the Lord. But while they are here on earth, they may not all make it into the place of rest, even though it is right there waiting to be claimed in the Estate of Christ.

Why aren't more preachers speaking about this place, rather than pushing their congregations into do-it-yourself, work-and-earn-it programs? Perhaps it is because they have never found it themselves. Old Covenant preachers will tell you how you should perform, what laws you should keep, and what rules and regulations you should obey; but they cannot give you directions to this place of rest until they discover it for themselves!

Some Christians who do enter choose to dwell close to the borderline where they can keep stepping in and out. That is like trying to walk through this new life with one foot in the Old Covenant and one in the New; or like attempting, at the same time, to trudge through the desert with Moses and rest with Christ in the Promised Land. It is like trying to live under the law and in the grace of God, or to walk in the flesh and in the Spirit simultaneously. We need to stop hanging out on the border and get deeper into the rest, which is in the New Covenant.

Throughout the Bible we read where the Lord is telling His people to, "Fear not, be not afraid, for I am with thee." He told it to Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David and Daniel and to many in the Old Testament. He told it to Joseph, Mary, Peter, Paul and John and many others in the New Testament. He told it to people who were frightened by sickness and others who were frightened by a storm. The Lord's instructions to His people are the same, both in the Old and New Testament: "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness" (Isa.41:10).

Over and over and over the Lord tells His people, "Fear not." However, there is one place in the Bible where He tells about something we should fear, and it is the one thing most Christians do not fear! It says, "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it" (Heb.4:1). Now, that is something to get apprehensive about! Just the thought of missing out on the true rest God has provided for us should sound an alarm in our spirit; yet, we don't seem to be the least bit concerned about it. We fear things the Lord tells us not to fear, and we do not fear what He tells us to fear!

I have been trying, year after year, to tell some of my anxious Christian friends how important it is for them to enter a life of rest, but my words seem to go right over their heads. They say, "Oh yes, I know that, but let me tell you about some of my real problems." Subconsciously, some people do not want to let go of anything that stirs up the emotions whether it is good or bad, because emotions and feelings, both high and low, make them feel alive. When we have entered the place of rest in our inheritance--the one listed in our Father's will--we will not be controlled by emotions.

When we children of God do enter the resting place, it does not mean we will have no more problems or heartaches, for we are still in the world even though we are not part of it. Jesus told us, "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). When we are in the resting place, even during times of sorrow and tribulation, there is joy and peace that passes all understanding (2Cor.7:4; Phil.4:7). That sure beats living in fear, anxiety and depression. If you happen to be going though an experience that in the past would normally have made you an emotional wreck, but you find yourself on a steady, joyful walkway of faith, don't worry if you don't understand it or if you find it hard to explain to others who are governed by their emotions. Just tell them you have found the promised land!

The Promised Land of the children of Israel in the Old Covenant is symbolic of the promised place of rest available to Christians under the New Covenant. That Promised Land was "a land flowing with milk and honey" (Ex.3:8). It was a place for the Israelites to live after they were delivered from bondage in Egypt, just as the place of rest is an area of life for us to enter after we are saved. If children of God do not enter the rest available to them in their Father's will, it does not mean they are outside the family; they are just not living in their true inheritance.

The Israelites were foolish, disobedient, complaining children of God who had lost their way and were wandering in the wilderness for forty years before entering into the Land, but they were still saved. They had put the blood on the doorpost (Ex.12:7), which represents being under the Blood of Christ. The Bible states, ". . . for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ" (1 Cor.10:4). The thing that kept a whole generation of Israelites out of the Promised Land (other than Caleb and Joshua [Deut.1:36,38]) was unbelief: ". . . they could not enter in because of unbelief" (Heb.3:19). And that is what keeps us out of the promised rest of today (Heb.3:18).

It should not have taken the children of Israel forty years to make it into the Promised Land, neither should it take us years to come into the place of rest that is there for us in our Father's will. There is a basic step for the people of God to take to enter this glorious place of rest. It is clearly stated in the Bible: "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his" (Heb.4:9,10).

To enter into the glorious rest of the New Covenant, we must learn what ceasing from our own works really means, and then be willing to do it. Let me tell you, that is not as easy as it sounds! I hope it doesn't take you as long as it has taken me to learn it. (Talk about a slow learner!) This is my thirtieth year as a child of God, and I feel I am just beginning to catch onto it. I am glad my Heavenly Father is patient!

I know I have a long way to go, but lately I have made some great strides into the area of rest, that promised land of the New Covenant. Every step that brings me deeper into rest is preceded by a ceasing from my own works. I have had a lot of experience at doing my own works; I have become an old pro at it. But lately I feel very insecure in those works, and that is a good sign, because it makes it easier for me to cease from them. But I must admit . . . I still do have my struggles in that area.

I began working in my father's bakery when I was a young child. By the time I was a teenager, I had become skillful in most areas of the work. My dad and I had different ways of working: he worked slowly while I pushed myself to the limit. I could never understand how he accomplished so much, because he never seemed to be in a hurry. His slowness made me nervous. You know what it is like to be behind a slowpoke! It just made me want to speed up all the more.

I have always liked to work at full speed. Later on in life when I was in construction work, one man, after working with me for an hour, said to me, "You know, we don't have to work like the devil is chasing us!" I have always tried to work fast to accomplish as much as I can. I used to take pride in what I considered my record breaking accomplishments, but I don't think my main motive was to impress others; what I liked most about accomplishing a good day's work was that it made me feel better about myself. What makes me feel good about myself now are not my works, but knowing I am a child of God. I am getting away from that performance syndrome.

I remember, near the end of one day when I was a teenager working in my father's bakery, how good I was feeling after one of my so called "record breaking accomplishments." That day I had made and baked three thousand small pies. There they were, hot out of the oven, all stacked in pans that fit into a big rack, which had wheels on it to make it portable. In order to speed up the cooling process so they could be packaged, I pushed the rack outside the bakery onto the loading dock where it was cooler. The rack rolled right off the edge of the platform, scattering the three thousand pies upon the ground below and over a car parked beneath the loading dock!

Now, about forty-five years later, I had this dream about working in my father's bakery. In my dream, I walked into the bakery and asked my dad where I should work. He just looked at me, but did not speak. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to me, but he knew I wasn't ready to listen to something he wanted me to hear. In real life, when my dad was here on earth, I would never just hang around and chat with him; I was too busy for that. Now, in my dream, I was acting the same way. I was anxious to get working, so I just decided to go ahead without hearing from my father.

First, I went to make some cakes, but discovered my father had them all made; then, I went to make some pies, and he also had them all made. This went on and on . . . Everything I went to do had already been done by my father. Finally, I said to myself, "I know what I'll do, I'll get a broom and sweep the floor." Then, as I began to sweep, I noticed the floor had not only been swept, it had been washed so clean that it glowed. I became so frustrated that I pounded down with my fists and swore. Then I awoke.

For a while I was really troubled by that dream. The Lord had cleansed my mouth when He entered my heart about thirty years ago; why would I now use bad language, even in a dream? However, when I got the intepretation of the dream and became aware of what God was showing me, I was no longer troubled but joyful.

Every work I tried to do in the dream had already been perfectly done by my father. Every work we are called to do in this new life has already been perfectly done by our Heavenly Father. We must have this revelation if we are going to cease from our own works and enter into the promised rest in the inheritance of Christ.

When Moses was speaking to the children of Israel about the Promised Land in the Old Covenant, he told them the Lord would give to them, ". . . cities, which thou buildest not, And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not . . ." (Deut.6:10,11). It is the same way when we enter into the New Covenant: everything has been done for us by the Lord!

My new creation, that new man in Christ, just loves to live in the rest of the New Covenant; but, as was revealed in my dream, the old natural man wants no part of it. He wants to stay in his own works rather than the finished work of God. Even though the Spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. Paul said, ". . . in my flesh dwelleth no good thing" (Rom.7:18). The first born man of the human race was Cain, the elder son of Adam and Eve. When his own works for his righteousness were rejected, we see the first display of the wrath of man (Gen.4:5). Don't expect the natural man in you to be enthused when you make a choice to cease from your own works.

Our work for the Lord can look very good until He shows us we are working in our own works in the flesh rather than working in the Spirit and resting in His finished work. It is only natural (not spiritual) to want to do our works, which we claim are the Lord's works--until His Spirit shows us differently. The fact is that when we accomplish our own works we feel better about ourselves, and at the root of that is wanting to work for our own righteousness as Cain did. One sure sign we have ceased from our own works and have entered the rest of our inheritance is when we have stopped trying to live the Christian life in our own strength, which is the same as when we have stopped trying to work for our own righteousness.

First, our Heavenly Father calls us into a relationship with Him as His precious children; then, He gives us the privilege of working with Him in carrying out His finished work, and we take it on as "our work." What will it take? How many times does the Lord have to let us try and fail before we are ready to cease from our own works and rest in the wonderful works of God? Can we do a better job than He?!

Many years ago when I answered my Lord's call to work in His Harvest Field, He got one enthusiastic worker! I worked for Him in the same way I worked as a kid in my dad's bakery! It really felt good to be working for the Lord . . . well . . . at least I thought I was working for Him! It didn't enter my mind that I was working "my works," and I didn't hear the Lord speak to me about that. He just let me go ahead, and sometimes it would take years before I would come to the conclusion that the Lord had a better way to get a work accomplished. I have discovered it pays to cease from my own works. It would have been a lot easier if I had simply listened to my Heavenly Father rather than having to learn by trial and error. Still, I am thankful for what I have learned, even if it has been the hard way.

Our determination not to quit in the Lord's finished work is called faith, while refusal to cease from our own works is nothing more than stubbornness. To stop doing something after we have given it our best effort and it has still failed can be a lesson well learned, but it still does not count as a ceasing from our own works.

At a certain time, which is different from the time frame we have here on earth, God ceased from His works; nothing was left undone: "For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest on the seventh day from all his works" (Heb.4:4). God's works are not like our works. His works cannot fail; they are always perfect in every way. Therefore, when He ceased from His works, it was done in His perfect wisdom.

That doesn't mean God has stopped working and we should not work. When the Jews persecuted Jesus because He worked on the Sabbath Day, He answered them, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work" (John 5:17). Paul the apostle did not cease from working; comparing himself with the other apostles, he said, ". . . I laboured more abundantly than they all . . ." (ICor.15:10). God is still working in our lives, but He is working out all that is already finished. Everything God has finished has to come to pass; it cannot fail. That is why Christ worked without anxiety. And, if He is working through us, we will enjoy doing a stress free work of God also. But, if our work for the Lord is in the uptight, pushy, competitive style of the world, we are simply still involved in our works.

Great responsibility gets placed upon our shoulders when we make a decision to do the Lord's work, but it is not placed there by God. He wants us to rest as He uses us in His finished work. For example, if you feel you must rush to the bedside of someone you know who is dying and give him the plan of salvation or you think he will go to hell and it will be your fault, you are working in your own works and not in the finished work of God.

Yes, we do have the privilege of sharing the Gospel, and sometimes the Lord will use us at someone's deathbed; but the work of salvation was finished by God from the foundation of the world. That is when God wrote the names in the Book of Life (Rev.17:8)! I experienced my salvation in the year 1964, but I was saved from the foundation of the world when God wrote my name in His Book of Life. Christ was crucified in our time and space realm for the sins of the world about two thousand years ago as He worked out the finished work of God, but the Bible calls Jesus "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev.13:8).

Do we still want to trust in our own works after glancing at the finished work of God? Must we organize soul winning programs and rush out to save the world? Does a person's salvation depend on our works? Are we writing the names in the Book of Life? I used to put myself under a lot of pressure to sow the Gospel Seed, but now that I am learning to cease from my own works, I am finding out that there is a lot more joy working in rest in the Lord's Harvest Field.

There is another work we do that we should also cease from. We don't realize it is our own work because it appears to be Godly. It is when we try to grow the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, when we try to be more loving, kinder, more patient . . . But that is not the real fruit the Lord is looking for when He comes into His garden. The Bible says that we are God's garden (1Cor. 3:9), and to "Let my beloved (Jesus) come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits" (Song. 4:16). He is looking for the real thing and not a manmade imitation.

The full-grown fruit of the Spirit entered us when we received Christ. It does not grow in us; we grow in it. For example, take the first treasure listed in the will of God: His love. His fruit of love does not grow in us! It does not grow. Period. It is full-grown, perfect and complete. We grow in His full-grown love; it does not grow in us! Our success in this life is not having a ministry to identify with nor is it writing a book or preaching the gospel, but rather it is growing in the love of God. Our love growth is not calculated by our circumstances or our works, but by how deeply we abide in the rest of our inheritance.

But we must remember that although the Promised Land was all prepared for the children of Israel, they did not possess it all at once; it was little by little (Deut.7:22). They were too small a nation to occupy it all; they had to grow into it. It is the same with the promised rest in the inheritance of Christ: it is complete but we must grow into it. There is a rest for the people of God. We do have a choice. We don't have to walk on the anxiety-paved highway of the world. We don't have to be addicted to religious works; when the "pushers" approach us, we can "just say no." And we don't have to tie artificial fruit onto the branches of our lives. What we can do is enter into that rest that remains, where we have the pleasure of working with the Father, living a worry-free life, as we enjoy His love along with all the benefits of our inheritance in the will of God. This is where we should live--for the REST of our life.