I thought I’d start the new year off right and spend more time writing, studying and meditating on what God was teaching me as I recovered from surgery last week. It’s funny how my plans and His can be so very different, no matter how well intended they are.
Instead of pages and pages of notes, outlines, and insights reflected on the sheets of paper in my spiral notebook, the only thing I have to account for my time are a few scribbled reminders from a tense phone call over my health insurance. I looked over my journaling (or lack thereof), let out a sigh, and attempted to spend some time in my Bible before I finally threw up my hands in surrender.
Lord, I’m doing absolutely nothing. I’m trying to study Your Word. What’s the deal? Why can’t I focus?
I said to rest.
I AM resting.
No. To rest means to stop. To cease. To do absolutely nothing. Just be with Me. You don’t need your paper and pen. You don’t need your Bible. I AM the Word. Everything you need right now can be found in ME.
It’s taken me a little while to get the point, but I finally closed my Bible and put down my pen; I reclined in my Lazy Boy and I did absolutely nothing. I finally did what God had been telling me to do, and I realized that all my “resting” had left me quite spent.
Genesis 2:2 (MSG) reads, “By the seventh day God had finished his work. On the seventh day he rested from all his work.”
Unlike me, God is all-powerful; He never tires and never needs to rest. After all, He’s God. He doesn’t get overwhelmed or need to take a break.
“Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening? God doesn’t come and go. God lasts. He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath.”
Isaiah 40:28
The word rested (Genesis 2:2) translates to the Hebrew word shabat; which means to cease or stop. God stopped from all His work; He ceased. Instead of continuing to create, there was shabat. Instead of doing more, God did nothing. He didn’t just rest on the seventh day; He stopped. It was a purposeful pause; one that was deliberate and intentional. Kind of like when I put down the pen, kicked up my feet, closed my Bible, and rested with Him.
How many times do we really stop what we’re doing? We’re always on, always doing, always at work and seldom, if ever, at shabat. Our minds have become wired for distraction, addicted to stimulation and scream for validation. We’re preoccupied with our cell phones, tuned in to the television and unable to function without the internet. Is it any wonder why rest has become increasingly difficult to achieve? The truth is, we’re so addicted to busy that we confuse resting with being lazy. While too much rest might be a kin to the sloth, the regular practice of finding rest is not.
When I actually stopped doing, God was able to whisper something deep into my soul. A relationship with Him isn’t going to grow without rest. Thats why He set aside a time for us to do just that.
Friend, I hope you’ll be intentional about resting today. Shabat. You need it, and God deserves it. You’ll be surprised what you find there, too. Peace. Tranquility. A fresh perspective and a lighter load. Rest in the Lord my friend.
Rest.
1 thought on “The Battle to Rest”