Through Rest, We Receive Grace to Accomplish His Will

"Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he." (Genesis 6: 22)

Noah in Hebrew means "rest".

When we rest in all that Jesus has done for us, we receive His grace:

"But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD." (Genesis 6: 8)

That verse above is the first mention of grace in the Bible.

Grace and rest appear together in other verses:

"Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour." (Jeremiah 16: 13)

But then:

"Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest." (Jeremiah 31: 2)

We receive grace when we allow God to cause us to rest.

In fact, Jesus offered that very gift to the Israelites of His day, and to us:

"28Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11: 28-30)

This rest does not cause us to be lazy, but rather fills us with God's will and ability:

"But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." (1 Corinthians 15: 10)

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2: 20)

and

"Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily." (Colossians 1: 29)

and also

"12Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:12-13)

When we die to ourselves and rest from our labors, His grace flows and we accomplish His will.