I Will Give You Rest

I watched my friend stand outside the closed door.  She leaned the side of her head toward the door, listening.  I could hear the muffled crying of her two-year-old daughter on the other side.

"I know you want to play, but now it is time to rest.  Close your eyes and rest your body.  You can play later."

As my friend walked back calmly to the kitchen table, I was taking mental notes.  I am always surrounded by moms, and I am always taking notes.

Less than ten minutes passed when the crying stopped.  My friend opened the door to see a sleeping girl lying in her bed, limbs flung out, bangs plastered to her forehead.  She had fought the nap, and the nap won.

I oftentimes shake my head and laugh at little kids who fight so hard against the one thing they need at the moment- REST.  I also sigh and think about how much I love to sleep.  I usually can't wait to sleep.  And if life allows for a nap, you can bet that I'm taking one.

But I'm not good at resting, REALLY resting.  For most of my life I have prided myself in what I do, accomplish, join, volunteer, work at, and participate in.  I fill up my schedule constantly.  Every bit of time.  I overcommit and underestimate how long everything takes.

In the past three years, God has been teaching me about rest.  He has revealed my idolatry of work and activity.  In 2013, I had reached such a point of exhaustion that I used to think sometimes, maybe I will fall asleep tonight and never wake up.  When God started working in me, he started with something as old as creation itself, resting on the seventh day, the Sabbath.

I share this all with you because I believe many of us are missing out.  God commands us to rest--- for his glory, but also for our good, for our joy, and for the work we do.  We often do not like the word obedience, but we are called to be obedient because God is a good father and he knows what we need.  My friend knew her daughter needed a nap even though the two-year-old insisted otherwise.  Oftentimes, we are the same, fighting against what we need, what will bring us joy.

I do not think God's command to rest looks the same in your life as it does in mine, but I think we are meant to take it to heart.

In the fall of 2013, I knew God was calling me to stop working on Sundays.  I knew that I had spent my entire life ignoring God's command to keep the sabbath holy, or set apart for God.  It had been a blind spot, and God was finally calling it out at the most inconvenient time.  I was in my last year of graduate school, while working at a boarding school.  My actual work hours ranged from 50-80 hours per week plus additional hours for planning lessons and hours of schoolwork to finish my degree.  Not doing any work on Sunday seemed IMPOSSIBLE to me.  I already felt like I was barely keeping myself from drowning.  How could I cut out an entire day?

When it comes to obeying God, it isn't up to us to work out the future.  We are called to be faithful to what he asks of us even if it seems impossible.  So I made the decision to rest on the sabbath no matter what.  In the busiest year of my life, God called me to trust him.  He could have chosen any year, but he chose the year that would require the most faith and in the end would cause me to say, "Only God could have made it all possible."

Some weeks I felt like a two year old fighting at nap time, but each Sunday I praised God that he had given me exactly what I needed.  I began to look forward to Sunday as the treasure of my week.  One of the greatest lessons I learned is that when we commit an area of our lives to the Lord, he makes it possible.  In the past few years, I have been learning to be a better listener.  A listener to others and a listener for God's voice.  I stopped making to-do lists in my head while spending time with family and friends.  I learned to be better at self-discipline, self-control, productivity.  I've taken many more walks on the shore and in the forest.  God has deepened my understanding of prayer, of worship, of purpose.  And the work always got done in six days.  I did not drown after all.

I've also learned that at the beginning of such an endeavor, there will always be reasons not to follow through.  It's easy to say, "not this week."  But a pastor once spoke about making the pre-decision to be faithful to God's commandments.  Pre-decide that Sunday belongs to God and belongs to rest, and pray for the ability to follow through.

In case it is not clear, I share this not to any way say that we are saved by what we do for the Jesus.  We are not saved by our obedience to the "rules."  It does not add gold stars to our name in heaven.  We are saved and made worthy because Jesus died for us.  This is about finding a treasure, and hoping others find it too.  Like I said earlier, God gives us commands because he loves us and he desires what is good for us.  Honoring the Sabbath is a gift for us, a gift that has altered my life.  Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28). He offers you rest.  Go to him.