Before teaching on the mystery of rest, I must begin with my own story, because revelation becomes more powerful when it is backed by experience. My journey into rest did not begin in comfort; it began in crisis. It began in foreign lands. It began in tears. It began in seasons where nothing made sense.
My European Wilderness: Three Years of Closed Heavens
About 20 years ago, I lived in a European city where everything seemed to work against me. No matter how hard I tried, nothing moved. The heavens felt like brass, and every effort produced frustration instead of progress. I laboured, studied, applied, worked, and prayed, yet nothing shifted. I was pursuing an engineering career, believing that was the path to success. But every door remained shut. Every opportunity evaporated. Every attempt to rise was swallowed by stagnation. It felt like I was living under a spiritual embargo.
After three years of unfruitfulness, I threw myself into intense prayer, seeking clarity from the Lord. I cried out for direction. I begged God for understanding. I asked Him why nothing was working. In that place of prayer, God gave me three life‑changing instructions.
Instruction 1: “You Are Not Aligned With My Purpose.”
Although I was pursuing engineering, the Lord reminded me that He had called me into the teaching ministry, to instruct, to build, to illuminate His Word. I was chasing a path He never designed for me. No wonder doors refused to open, despite my qualifications. Purpose was missing, and where purpose is absent, gates remain shut.
Instruction 2: “Leave This City. This Land Is Too Small For You.”
I had been labouring tirelessly in a place that was never part of my prophetic geography. Some locations cannot sustain your destiny. Some territories are too small for the assignment God has placed on your life. After three years of struggle, I obeyed. I relocated, not only geographically, but vocationally.
Instruction 3: “Step Into Academics, Research, and Teaching.”
I stepped into the world of academics, research, and teaching, aligning myself with the calling God had spoken over me. And instantly, everything changed. Doors that had been shut for years opened effortlessly. Opportunities multiplied. Finances flowed. Favour increased. The atmosphere shifted.
This is what happens when a believer becomes aligned with God’s purpose, God’s timing, and God’s ordained location. Stubborn gates open. Iron doors break. Destiny begins to breathe again.
My South Africa Furnace: A Season of Pain Before Rest
Years earlier, I left Nigeria for South Africa with dreams, prophecies, and expectations. Like Abraham leaving Ur, I stepped out believing that God had prepared a place for me. I believed I was following divine direction. I believed I was stepping into destiny. But instead of comfort, I entered a furnace.
South Africa became a land of immigration battles, economic hardship, xenophobic hostility, betrayals, and unending cycles of loss. I faced rejection after rejection. I struggled for survival. I saw days when I didn’t know where help would come from. I saw nights when fear and uncertainty became my closest companions.
There were seasons when I felt forgotten, like Joseph in prison, like David running from Saul, like Elijah under the juniper tree. I prayed, fasted, sowed seeds, served God faithfully, yet the heavens seemed silent. Every door I knocked on remained shut. Every application I submitted returned with rejection. Every attempt to rise was met with resistance.
The worst blow came when my UK visa was rejected, not once, but repeatedly, and for two full years, the rejection stood like a mountain mocking my faith. It felt like the enemy had built a wall around my destiny. It felt like my life was stuck in a cycle of stagnation.
My Prophetic Turnaround: The Word That Shifted My Destiny
In the midst of my South African pain, God sent a trusted servant of God, a man not celebrated, not famous, not decorated, yet carrying a word from heaven. He looked at me and said:
“Apostle Ayo, your season of rest has come. Within one month, God will overturn what has been resisting you for years.”
I didn’t fully understand it, but I believed it. Something shifted in my spirit. I felt the wind of rest blowing. I felt the yoke breaking. I felt the burden lifting. And exactly as God said: My rejected UK visa was reversed after two years. I received a BA scholarship. Doors opened effortlessly. My life transformed completely. I entered my season of rest.
This was what sent me to Europe and by the help of God, I avoided every enemy of rest, sin, worry, bitterness, fear, demonic traps, and wrong relationships. God preserved my rest and established me in a new season. This is why I teach rest with conviction: I have lived it. I have tasted it. I have entered it. And I know it is real.
Understanding Rest: The Certainty of Results
Rest is not the absence of work, it is the certainty of results. Rest is when your seeds begin to speak. Rest is when your harvests begin to answer. Rest is when your efforts begin to produce outcomes without struggle.
Jesus said: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11:28
Rest is a covenant promise. “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” — Hebrews 4:9
Rest is divine: “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” — Exodus 33:14
Rest is a gift: “The LORD gave them rest round about.” — Joshua 21:44
Rest is a realm: “So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.” — 2 Chronicles 20:30
Rest is a Sabbath, physically, spiritually, emotionally, financially, and mentally.
When a man enters rest: Results become predictable. Enemies lose their power. Finances stabilize. Health flourishes. Marriage becomes peaceful. The mind becomes calm. The heart becomes settled.
Solomon said: “The LORD my God hath given me rest on every side.” — 1 Kings 5:4
This is the highest dimension of rest.
The Lasting Foundation of Rest: Jesus Christ
The greatest form of rest is not financial rest, marital rest, or emotional rest, it is rest in your soul.
Rest begins when Jesus becomes Lord.
“There is no peace to the wicked.” — Isaiah 48:22
Money cannot buy sustainable rest. Marriage cannot guarantee sustainable rest. Success cannot produce rest. Only Jesus gives sustainable and lasting rest.
How? He forgives sins.
“There is therefore now no condemnation…” — Romans 8:1
He gives a new heart.
“A new heart also will I give you…” — Ezekiel 36:26
Sin and rest are sworn enemies. No sinner has peace. No believer walking in sin enjoys rest. Rest is the inheritance of the righteous.
Discerning Your Season of Rest
Many believers enter rest without knowing it. But discernment is critical. When you know your season, you gain strength, courage, and clarity. Here are scriptural signs that your season of rest has come:
1. God Speaks Clearly
Moses heard it (Exodus 33:14). Israel heard it (Deuteronomy 12:9–10). Solomon heard it (1 Chronicles 22:9).
When God says, “Rest has come,” nothing can stop it.
2. Unusual Storms After a Word
Jesus said, “Let us go to the other side,” and a storm arose (Mark 4:35–39).
Storms often precede rest.
3. Harvests Begin to Arrive
When results begin to flow effortlessly, rest has begun.
4. Enemies Become Powerless
Isaac entered Rehoboth after years of contention (Genesis 26:19–22). The early church entered rest when Saul was converted (Acts 9:31).
5. A Major Test Appears
Joseph faced a test before his elevation (Genesis 40). Saul faced a test of humility before kingship (1 Samuel 9).
6. Unusual Favour Begins to Locate You
Ruth entered Boaz’s field by divine orchestration (Ruth 2:3). Mary received angelic visitation (Luke 1:26–38).
Rest announces itself through favour.
Ayo Akerele is the senior pastor of Rhema Assembly and the founder of the Voice of the Watchmen Ministries in Ontario, Canada. He can be reached through [email protected]. You can connect with him on: YouTube: @VoiceoftheWatchmen, TikTok: @drayoakerele, Instagram: @drayoakerele, Facebook: @Ayo Akerele
