What if rest isn't a reward for finishing everything?
What if rest is an act of obedience?
As we prepare for vacation, God has been reminding me that rest is not laziness—it's part of His design. Robert's boss requires him to take two weeks away from the shop each year because he knows burnout serves no one. I realized I wasn't much different. I had every day of our vacation planned and packed with activities. Then when our lives were turned upside down, we made a different choice. We stopped buying tickets to shows, purchased three comfortable zero-gravity chairs, and gathered some good books instead. We're intentionally making room to slow down, breathe, and allow God to renew our hearts, minds, and spirits. Sometimes the most productive thing we can do is simply rest in His presence.
I started really studying rest and came up with some things to share.
#1: Jesus invited people to rest
Mark 6:31
"Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."
The disciples had been serving constantly. Crowds were everywhere. There was more work to do than they could possibly finish.
Jesus didn't say, "Push trough, work harder, or you can rest after everyone is helped." Instead He said: "Come away" Notice that Jesus initiated the rest.
That was when I started realizing, I was treating rest as optional, or actually failure. I feel guilty if I am not being productive and I never really realized Jesus really knew we needed rest. I truly feel like I finally listened to Jesus' invitation to "Come Away" when I put down the appt book and ordered the chairs. I feel like we have all been going 100 miles an hour, and we always have but adding in the things going on with losing Mom and then the added weirdness that comes with it being from an automobile accident ( which we are finding out is a WHOLE DIFFERENT THING), I know we are all three exhausted. And part of me had decided we weren't going on vacation. But then I started being directed to these verses and I knew God was not just whispering, he was almost to the point of raising His voice.
#2: Even God rested
Genesis 2:2-3
"By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested."
God wasn't tired. He was demonstrating a pattern.
Work. Rest. Work. Rest
When we ignore rest, we're actually ignoring a rhythm God built into creation. And maybe this is where I get that I can't rest until all the work is done, and the work is never done. God's work wasn't done either, There was no, "It is finished". We know now it was the beginning, He had finished the work He had been doing, but He hadn't finished the work. His work will always be there, and so will ours.
#3 Renewal Comes from Waiting
Isaiah 40:31
"But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles."
The word "renew" means to exchange strength. We give God our exhaustion. He gives us His strength. He has given me so much strength in the last 44 days, it is amazing, but He knows I am still exhausted. I know it is the natural order of things to lose our parents. And I know people go through this all the time, but this was my mom, my best friend, my sounding board, my vent buddy, and I miss her so badly and honestly I realized that her approval was a lot of my security. I lost my compass. I could shoot things off of her and she would tell me if I was being unreasonable and I would listen without feeling rejected. It is hard making those decisions truly on my own and I have to have God step in and tell me I can do this. That old poem, Footprints, I have never realized the truth in that more than right now. I am hoping that through some rest, time with family and time with Him, I might be able to walk again without Him having to carry me through each day.
I have made us a list of things to discuss on vacation as our own little healing therapy session. I thought I would share:
We are going to discuss:
What has worn us down this year?
What do we need God to renew?
What am I hoping to leave behind before returning home?
What do I want more of in my life when vacation is over?
I also want us to do a daily prayer time
Just sitting out in our chairs by the lake, no phones, read a few scripture passages and then let God really talk to us about what He is working on restoring in us. This is vacation with a purpose and I am all in.
Sometimes revival looks like sleeping late, laughing with family, reading a good book, sitting quietly, breathing deeply and most importantly remembering that God is God and I am not.
Vacation isn't a break from God's work, it is part of God's work in you.
Happy Saturday everyone.
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