Wrestling and Resting in Christ

I've been meditating a lot lately on what it means to rest in Christ. I preached a sermon last week from Hebrews 4 and touched on the subject slightly.

Hebrews 4:10-11
He that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Let us be diligent therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

In my free time this past weekend I listened to a sermon by Pastor John Piper entitled: Resting and Wrestling for the Cause of Christ - Together. He made some great points that I would like to share. He read from Romans 15:30-32, which reads in the ESV:

I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company.

Pastor Piper noted that in this passage Paul is longing for two things. That the church joins him in wrestling (strive together can also be translated as wrestle - Greek sunagonisasthai) and in resting (being refreshed - Greek sunanapauomai). I found this very interesting, specifically because he made the remark that we should both wrestle and rest at the same time. Piper quoted Luke 13:24: “Strive (wrestle) to enter through the narrow door.” then Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” He combines these two passages and says that the two descriptions of Christian life are wrestling and resting:

"Strive to enter through the narrow door. Life is war. Fight the good fight. Wrestle.
Come to me, you who are weary, and rest. Find a light yoke and an easy burden. "

He then concludes that:

"It is both wrestling and resting partly because our hearts do not naturally rest in all that God is for us in Jesus. So we must fight against everything that inclines us to rest in anything but Jesus.

Money beckons us to rest in what it can buy. Sex beckons us to rest in the way it can make us feel. Power and recognition beckon us to rest in what they can give. Health and food and athletics and family and friends and hobbies and education and looks and accomplishments all beckon us to rest in what they offer.

But Jesus says, “Come to me and find rest for your souls.” Other shelters offer rest. Other yokes seem easy. Other burdens feel light. They are all an illusion. In the end, they enslave and destroy. Only Jesus gives deep and lasting rest and joy. Only Jesus supports the burdens he gives. Only Jesus uses a yoke to lift his team of oxen. "

My question to you (and myself) is what are you resting in? What are you yolked up to? Are you resting in Christ? Are you wrestling to continue in that rest? As Hebrews 4 says, when we enter into His rest, we cease from our own labors by diligently laboring or wrestling to stay in His rest.