Learning Biblical Rest from a Wild Mustang
The first time I walked up to a wild mustang in a round pen, I knew I was looking at an animal who would do anything to break free from the barriers around him. The horse’s name was Amarillo. He was as strong as he was tense, scratching at the dirt underneath his hooves as if preparing to make a break for it but knowing there was nowhere for him to go other than a few feet in any direction. I could feel Amarillo’s restlessness when I approached him. While it took some humbling of my posture before I could earn Amarillo’s trust, I really did want the mustang to see me as a safe person. I knew there was something better for him than this life of running aimlessly and anxiously in circles, scared and out of sorts. I knew Amarillo could find a whole new purpose for his strength, if only we could tame him enough to realize it for himself.
In many ways, I think that’s true of us and the Lord, too. We’d find the truest purpose for our lives if we could humble ourselves enough to trust what he says about living.
Jesus’ Invitation to Rest and Meekness
I see Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:28-30 as the anchoring text on meekness in the Bible:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle [meek] and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
We know the heart of Christ is meek: strong yet selfless, powerful yet surrendered, ready and always willing. But I don’t want to miss those five words that come before Jesus’ description of himself, because I think they are perhaps the biggest blessing that comes from understanding and living out meekness:
I will give you rest.
Rest: the wonderful state of being at peace, at ease, content, and full of faith. Rest is the opposite of fear and anxiety, but today more people than ever before are struggling profoundly with those two things. I know this struggle all too well. So I wonder often if God looks at me and thinks the exact same thing that I did when I saw Amarillo in the round pen: This spinning and chasing and hustling, this ain’t it. This isn’t the easy yoke. Come and learn what rest really is.
Biblical Rest Is Also a Command
Rest is not only a good gift from God (that we’re not very good at accepting), but it’s also a command (that we’re not very good at following). It’s the fourth of the Ten Commandments: Keep the Sabbath. It’s not optional. For those unfamiliar with the term Sabbath, it literally means “to rest.”1 It’s where we get our English word sabbatical, that long break from work most of us wish we could have right now. God could have suggested, “Hey, everyone, you know, it might be a good idea to stop all your work and commitments and just be present to what is right in front of you from time to time,” but he did more than that. He’s all-knowing, and he obviously knew our human hearts needed something stronger than a kind suggestion.
Keep the Sabbath. Full stop. A command.
Understanding the Purpose of Sabbath Rest
As modern Christians, we can tend to breeze past this commandment, largely because of the way the Pharisees made it legalistic. We see Jesus calling out these religious leaders multiple times, at least once directly about the Sabbath. The Pharisees had caught Jesus’ disciples plucking heads of grain to eat, because can you believe they had the nerve to be hungry on the Sabbath?! The Pharisees couldn’t. Or, they simply wanted to catch Jesus being wrong about something, anything, which was proving impossible. So they twisted a law that was meant for our good and made it into something they could measure others against. Another metric. Jesus’ response? “You don’t get it. I’m bigger than all of this. You’re missing the whole point” (Matthew 12:1-8).
Honestly, we might be missing the whole point too. We sometimes find ourselves on the other side of the spectrum. Well, Jesus called out the Pharisees about this, so it’s probably not important at all! That mindset is just as misguided. Author and pastor John Mark Comer explains, “The writer of Hebrews, speaking of Sabbath and its spirit of restfulness, called us to ‘make every effort to enter that rest.’ Notice the irony of that command; we are to work hard to rest.”2 Because if our bodies never stop to rest—to surrender control—our souls never will either.
If God rested, what on earth makes us think we don’t need to?
Biblical Rest as a Lifestyle of Faith
Sabbath rest is not the only rest we are invited to. Rest is a lifestyle, a posture of faith, and a hallmark of meekness, because living at rest means your heart isn’t chasing the temporary but is confident in the eternal, in what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross. I’ve had to reorient the metrics that held me captive to comparison. Actually, I have to refocus my thoughts, goals, and desires on Jesus all the time, every day, all day. For so long, I thought success looked like growth and achievements. Today, the two standards of success I measure myself by are (1) did I spend time, real time, with the Lord and (2) did I serve someone who can give me nothing? That’s it. I work hard, of course. In many ways, I’ve never been more motivated to creatively get the gospel to everyone I can reach. But I’ve also never been more aware of how temporary all of this is, how God is the one doing anything of value in me, and how the ways that I rest need to reflect that reality. At 5 p.m., my phone gets put away so that my mind is with my family. I have one of my work team members do all my social media posts, which means that my eyes are on the numbers as little as possible. I make time to pray with my wife every single day; it’s a nonnegotiable for us. I’m far from perfect, but I’ve tasted life with real rest—and I know for sure what life is like without it. Idolizing productivity, and all that accompanies that chase, has stolen enough from me and my family.
Making Room for Real Rest
These are some of the ways I’ve been intentional about rest—and I say that because it won’t happen if I’m not intentional. I’ll say it again: Surrender and rest are not passive. What do you need to do to make room for rest in your life? Limit your screen time or lock your phone up? Ask a friend to be your accountability partner to observe the Sabbath? Take something off your schedule? Say no?
Rest Is About Obedience and Surrender
Real rest is about obedience. About taking the easy yoke and working alongside a God who not only doesn’t need me to prove anything, but actually delights to use me (a mustang like me!) for his Kingdom work. I know in my heart that I’m only going to be at peace when I’m doing his work, not mine. That’s rest.
1. “Sabbath,” Bible Study Tools, accessed February 24, 2026, biblestudytools.com/dictionary/sabbath/.
2. John Mark Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World (Crown Publishing Group, 2019), 150.
Adapted from Meek as a Mustang: Find the Strength to Surrender Your Wild Heart to Jesus by Ryan Miller, releasing in October 2026 from Tyndale House Publishers.
About Ryan Miller
Ryan Miller is an online evangelist, author, filmmaker, and founder of The Jesus People, a digital ministry reaching millions of people each year with the gospel through social media, podcasts, documentaries, and daily Scripture-centered content. With a heart for helping people encounter the presence of God in real and transformative ways, Ryan blends sound biblical teaching with practical spiritual formation for everyday life.
Ryan is the host of The Jesus People Podcast, where he engages pastors, theologians, influencers, and everyday believers in conversations about faith, suffering, redemption, and revival. He is also a documentary producer behind multiple faith-based film projects that spotlight persecuted Christians, modern-day miracles, and radical testimonies of life change.
In addition, Ryan founded Share the Struggle, a Christian mental health platform providing Scripture-based encouragement, coaching, and resources to help people walk through anxiety, shame, and emotional pain with hope and faith. His writing and teaching consistently point readers back to the authority of Scripture, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the freedom found in surrendering fully to Jesus.
Ryan lives in Texas with his wife, Annie, and their four young children. When he’s not creating content or traveling for ministry, he enjoys family life, cheering on the San Diego Padres, and finding the best burritos around. Connect with Ryan through The Jesus People Podcast and The Jesus People online.
