The Rest of Completeness
As a child rests without worry, so the child of God lives complete in the rest Jesus provides.
Devotional Credit: My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
Photo Credit: Unsplash
Oswald Chambers draws us to the words of Jesus, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.” Rest in Him is not simply relief from weariness, but the very mark of a life that has found its completeness in union with Christ. Chambers warns against allowing dis-peace to linger. He urges us to bring disturbances immediately to the Lord so that His rest may be established in our hearts. Jesus Himself is the one who settles us, making our lives steady and whole.
Chambers exposes the danger of self-consciousness. When our eyes are turned inward, it breeds self-pity, and from there bitterness and pride easily follow. The self-focused life circles endlessly around its own needs and injuries. But when our eyes are set on Jesus, self-consciousness fades, and Christ-consciousness fills us. He becomes our all in all. The shift from inward preoccupation to resting in Him is what transforms us.
The image Chambers uses of the child of God is striking. The child does not fret about the will of God, for the child is already living within it. To the child, God’s care is assumed, not doubted. So too, when we are at rest in Christ, we are not anxious about whether God hears our prayers. We live with the quiet confidence that He always answers, because He is faithful.
This devotional presses us to let go of the strain of self-awareness and instead yield to the restful activity of Jesus within us. In Him, completeness is not something we achieve. It is something already given, established by His indwelling presence. Chambers reminds us that wherever Jesus comes, He brings perfect rest.
Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
My beloved, I have called you into rest, not as a distant promise, but as your present inheritance in Jesus. He said, come to Me and I will give you rest, and that word stands true for you now. In Him you are complete. You do not need to chase what has already been given.
When your thoughts turn inward, when you find yourself circling around what others have done or left undone, look up to Me. Fix your eyes on Jesus, and I will steady your heart. Self-pity has no place in you, for you have died with Him and now live by His life. You are a new creation, no longer bound to the endless loops of self.
As a child trusts without calculation, so you may live. You need not strain to know My will, for you are already in My hand. You need not wonder if your prayers are heard, for you are seated with Christ in heavenly places, and your voice is joined to His. Your completeness is not fragile or partial, it is full and secure in Him.
Live this day not with anxious striving, but with the restful certainty that I am at work in you. In Jesus, you have peace that the world cannot give, and in Him, you have life that never runs dry.
Scripture References: Matthew 11:28-29, Colossians 2:9-10, Galatians 2:20, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 1:3, Ephesians 2:6, Philippians 4:6-7, Romans 6:4, Hebrews 4:9-10, John 14:27.
Real-Life Analogy
Think of the difference between carrying a heavy box pressed against your chest versus placing that same box on a sturdy shelf. As long as you cling to it, your arms ache and your body strains. But the moment you set it down, the weight is supported, and you are free. In the same way, when we hold our own worries, self-pity, or restlessness, the strain wears us down. But when we release it into the hands of Jesus, His rest carries the weight, and we are freed to walk in peace.
Today, when an anxious thought comes, I can pause and say, “Lord, I trust You to bear this in me and through me, for You are my rest.” This keeps me from striving and keeps my heart in the completeness that only He provides.
Prayer of Confidence
Lord, I thank You that my life is complete in You. I rejoice that I no longer need to hold the weight of self-consciousness or self-pity, for You have given me rest. I live today in the confidence that Your peace steadies me, Your life fills me, and Your presence sustains me. I rest in the completeness that is already mine in Jesus, and I give thanks that wherever You are, there is perfect rest.