If you have found your way here, you are likely looking for something deeper than a day off. We live in a world that knows how to sleep but has forgotten how to rest. You might feel a deep ache in your soul—a sense that no matter how much you achieve or how many breaks you take, you are still carrying a heavy weight.
The War for Shalom is a place to set that weight down. This isn't a program to add to your to-do list; it is an invitation to discover the kind of rest that reaches the deepest parts of who you are.
You might wonder why a website about rest uses a word like War in its title. It seems like a contradiction, but it speaks to the reality we all live in. In the Bible, the word Shalom means far more than just peace or the absence of conflict. It means wholeness, completeness, and flourishing in every area of life. It is the way things were supposed to be.
The War is the necessary battle to reclaim that wholeness in a world that is constantly trying to fracture us. We are fighting against the chaos, the noise, and the relentless pressure to perform that steals our joy. We fight for Shalom not with anger or violence, but by ruthlessly protecting our time with God and refusing to let the busyness of life tear our souls apart.
When the Bible talks about rest, it means something very different from what our culture teaches. Cultural rest is often just a pause button—a way to recharge so we can get back to work. It is about us trying to survive. But Biblical rest, or Covenant Sabbath, is about God securing our safety. It is the deep confidence that we don't have to hold the world together because God already is.
Soul rest happens when we stop trying to earn our worth and start trusting in the One who made us. It is the peace of knowing you are loved, held, and safe, not because of what you do, but because of who you belong to.
This study traces a recurring theme through the Bible to show just how far God has gone to secure this rest for you. He didn't just give us a rule to follow; He gave us Himself. God saw that we were trapped in a cycle of toil (the striving, the grind, self-justification, burnout) and brokenness, so He took extreme measures to bring us home.
Through the finished work of Jesus Christ, God paid the debt we could never pay and opened the door to a future where pain and sorrow are no more. This is the heart of The War for Shalom: a journey into the relentless love of a Father who has prepared a place for you, both now and forever.
The reader who stays with the long journey of this study and takes it to heart, will be blessed. The courses are designed to follow a logical progression, but this sequence doesn't have to be strictly followed to receive the benefits. You will learn and grow even through slow, random readings.
You should read the content in the order listed on the website menu. This will prepare you for the more in-depth course materials. The appendix topics are deeper explorations of concepts that are discussed throughout the courses. You will be referred to the appendix topics as they are encountered in the lessons, but you may find it helpful to just browse these appendices independently.
The study content is maintained in Google Docs which are linked to this site. If you don't already use Google Docs, you may get a better reading experience by opening the course materials in a new tab. To open the Docs in a new tab, use a long-press-and-release instead of a quick-tap on this website's menu links. If you have Google Docs installed on your device, the quick-tap method will automatically open in Docs. Even with Docs installed on your device, you can still open the file differently by opening in a new tab. Using separate tabs is especially helpful to have the Appendix documents open simultaneously with the courses.
The Google Docs are designed with Bookmarks and Hyperlinks to facilitate ease of navigation when not viewing the files with the Docs application. Google Docs application is recommended for the fullest navigation experience through all the heading outlines.
Regarding web browsers, Chrome would be the first choice for this Google platform website. Edge and Safari should work well also. The file presentation method used by the author was intended to provide the best user experience across various software platforms and hardware devices.
This study material was designed to be accessed entirely online, and the content is protected to prevent downloading and printing. This serves two purposes: you will always have access to the most up-to-date content, and copyright is protected. Group leaders for these courses are encouraged to help participants with their online access of the materials, and to be familiar with the technology.
The site has multiple web pages of additional content as supplemental information which can be copied and printed. These pages serve as indexing content for Google's search engine. The website's menu is structured to have the web pages listed first, followed by links to Google Documents beginning with the Who Needs This Study? menu item.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matthew 11:28-29 ESV)
"In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety." (Psalm 4:8 ESV)
"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39 ESV)
"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12 ESV)