lion rebel

Rest: it means to cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.  I do not know about you, but I know that I do not “rest” well.  I sleep great at night, but that is probably because I go so long with out resting all the time.  I am eager to find out the entirety of what the Bible has to say about rest, its importance for us, and how to do it.

The next mention of rest comes from Psalm 95, [I will be using the Message paraphrase]:

Come, let’s shout praises to God,
raise the roof for the Rock who saved us!
Let’s march into his presence singing praises,
lifting the rafters with our hymns!

And why? Because God is the best,
High King over all the gods.
In one hand he holds deep caves and caverns,
in the other hand grasps the high mountains.
He made Ocean – he owns it!
His hands sculpted Earth!

So come, let us worship: bow before him,
on your knees before God, who made us!
Oh yes, he’s our God,
and we’re the people he pastures,
the flock he feeds.

Drop everything and listen, listen as he speaks:
“Don’t turn a deaf ear as in the Bitter Uprising,
As on the day of the Wilderness Test,
when your ancestors turned and put me to the test.
For forty years they watched me at work among them,
as over and over they tried my patience.
And I was provoked – oh, was I provoked!
‘Can’t they keep their minds on God for five minutes?
Do they simply refuse to walk down my road?’
Exasperated, I exploded,
‘They’ll never get where they’re headed,
never be able to sit down and rest.’” [v. 1-11]

You’ve heard it before, and you’ll hear it again – but God is worthy to be worshiped.  Not just through the singing of songs or the bending of knees and lifting of hands.  But of lives completely lived for his name and his glory.  He is our great Creator and he holds everything that is larger than we can see and smaller than we can know in the palm of his hands.

Each day he calls out to us, his tiny creation, hoping that we will hear him and remember the deeds of the past generations who have already made the same mistakes as we make believing that we are setting new boundaries and plowing new pathways.

As I read this psalm again, I am reminded of Solomon’s words, that there is nothing new under the sun and never will be.  Nothing surprises God – nothing catches him off-guard.  He is fully aware of everything that is coming to pass.

And so, wisdom beckons us to recall the past – to remember the “Bitter Uprising” of the Israelites.  Why? Because they are a prime example of what it means to have God hand everything to you on a silver platter and in turn throw it to the ground.   God has presented each of us with a golden opportunity – to receive his grace, peace, and rest.  The Israelites of old missed it – they failed the test and inherited miserable arid lands to which they never belonged.

We’re on a trek – a great trip into the unknown.  But our Guide and Helper knows the way and the end results.  If we continue to refuse to live by his guidance and help, we will never experience the glorious end result, but a rest of misery and depravity.

It is interesting to note God’s emotions conveyed through this psalm.  I have never thought of God as being exasperated – but as I think of my relationship with my daughter, who is almost two, I can understand it, to a degree.  If only she wouldn’t climb the windowpanes [yes, the tiny little frame that holds the inside of the window together!] she would not run the risk of falling down and hurting herself.  But oh how she screams at me when I pull her off of the window after she doesn’t listen to me.  It is no wonder to me that God lets us make stupid choices and learn from them more often than pulling us off of the window.  I get tired of hearing my daughter scream at me – I imagine that God has long tired of hearing his people bitch at him after he saves them from imminent danger.

God only wants what is best for you and me.  He knows that if we could stop ourselves and think more on him that we would be better off.

What keeps you from focusing on him?

Rest: it means to cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.  I do not know about you, but I know that I do not “rest” well.  I sleep great at night, but that is probably because I go so long with out resting all the time.  I am eager to find out the entirety of what the Bible has to say about rest, its importance for us, and how to do it.

The next mention of rest comes from Job 3, as Job is anguishing in his loss of family and possessions [I will be using the Message paraphrase]:

Why didn’t I die at birth, my first breath out of the womb my last? Why were there arms to rock me, and breasts for me to drink from? I could be resting in peace right now, asleep forever, feeling no pain…Why wasn’t I stillborn and buried with all the babies who never saw light, Where the wicked no longer trouble anyone and bone-weary people get a long-deserved rest?  Prisoners sleep undisturbed, never again to wake up to the bark of the guards. The small and the great are equals in that place, and slaves are free from their masters.

Why does God bother giving light to the miserable, why bother keeping bitter people alive, Those who want in the worst way to die, and can’t, who can’t imagine anything better than death, Who count the day of their death and burial the happiest day of their life? What’s the point of life when it doesn’t make sense, when God blocks all the roads to meaning?  Instead of bread I get groans for my supper, then leave the table and vomit my anguish.  The worst of my fears has come true, what I’ve dreaded most has happened. My repose is shattered, my peace destroyed. No rest for me, ever – death has invaded life. [v. 11-13, 16-26]

Bad days come and go like the mist in the morning. What do we have on this earth that is worth our while, that will remain when the sun fades and this world melts away?  Job had come face to face with this reality.  And he was a good man: he honored God, he honored God for his family in the midst of their sin, and he was more than cognizant that God was the only power worth recognizing.

But the pain proved to be to great in the midst of his loss.  He recognized that this is what death looks like: vacancy in the middle of a city’s celebration.  While the rest of the world went on, his remained broken.  Though Job knew and recognized God as the one true God, he longed for rest to come to him, for peace to return to his home.

It is interesting to me that we do not hear anything about Job after these trials – life goes on.  I have been processing the reality of every day life versus the intimacy of every day grace.  Job points it out perfectly: “What is the point of life when it doesn’t make sense, when God blocks all roads to meaning?”

I am coming to the daily conclusion that what I do does not matter as much as how much I give to God.  And this is difficult because I do not get God most of the time.  I do not understand 1/1,000,000 of his nature, purpose, or life.  And the list goes on from there.  How do you embrace a foreign, mysterious thing such as God?

To embrace God in his mystery is to experience rest and peace amid turmoil and tribulation.  I wish I could make it clearer – but I do not even understand that concept passed simply doing what I think it is to embrace God.

I have no clear answers.  I have no formulas or perfect reasons for why we engage in this God.  I only know that he is faithful and responds when we reach out.

In the middle of your pain, reach out – that’s what Job did.

Rest: it means to cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.  I do not know about you, but I know that I do not “rest” well.  I sleep great at night, but that is probably because I go so long with out resting all the time.  I am eager to find out the entirety of what the Bible has to say about rest, its importance for us, and how to do it.

The next mention of rest comes from 1 Chronicles 22, David shares with his son Solomon what the Lord has spoken about his life [I will be using the Message paraphrase]:

David said to Solomon, “I wanted in the worst way to build a sanctuary to honor my God.  But God prevented me, saying, ‘You’ve killed too many people, fought too many wars. You are not the one to honor me by building a sanctuary – you’ve been responsible for too much killing, too much bloodshed.  But you are going to have a son and he will be a quiet and peaceful man, and I will calm his enemies down on all sides. His very name will speak peace – that is, Solomon, which means Peace – and I’ll give peace and rest under his rule.  [v. 7-9]

One thing that is synonymous with rest is a sense of safety.  A place of refuge is generally viewed as a resting place.  One thing my wife strives to do in our home is create a safe place, a warm place, a sanctuary of sorts.  This was obviously a very important thing to the Lord, so important that, though David was certainly worthy as a king, the Lord chose Solomon, who was to be a man of peace and not war, to build his sanctuary among the people.

With Solomon’s peaceful demeanor would come the Lord’s hand of rest and refuge for the Israelites.  Throughout Solomon’s reign, the Israelites, thanks to David’s efforts, would be in peace because of their power and prosperity.  Solomon, the wisest to ever live on this earth, orchestrated that with his administration.

Our world is in constant turmoil; president upon president of our great nation promise peace and safety for us – yet as we turn from one side of the world to the other we find ourselves engaged in war or disparity.  On one hand, we engage in these wars to prove our power and make a statement that we will ensure our safety.  On the other hand, though, we only continue our embattlement, ensuring that our safety is always a bomb’s drop away from being shredded from our daily lives.

For a long while, I believed war was an ok thing – you need not look far in the Old Testament to see the multitudes of slaying; from Sodom and Gomorrah, to Joshua, to Samson and David, the Israelites were consistently involved in war.  But the Lord proves that peace, not war, is his method of proving his love for us.  He would not allow David, as great of a king as he was, as devoted to the Lord as he was, to build his place of sanctuary.  It meant more to him to have a man of peace establish the Lord’s permanent place of rest and peace among the Israelites.

The question that comes to my mind is, “Am I a man of peace?”  Do I prove time and again that in the heat of the moment I will love and be a peacemaker?  Jesus tells us: “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight.  That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family” [Matthew 5.9].

God’s family – God’s children are peacemakers.  In that peace comes rest, a refuge from the turmoil of this world.

Are you a peacemaker?

Rest: it means to cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.  I do not know about you, but I know that I do not “rest” well.  I sleep great at night, but that is probably because I go so long with out resting all the time.  I am eager to find out the entirety of what the Bible has to say about rest, its importance for us, and how to do it.

The next mention of rest comes from the book of Joshua [chapter 23], as the people experience the fulfillment of what God described for them [I will be using the Message paraphrase]:

A long time later, after God had given Israel rest from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua was a venerable old man, Joshua called all Israel together…”You have seen everything that God has done to these nations because of you.  He did it because he’s God, your God.  He fought for you.

Stay alert: I have assigned to you by lot these nations that remain as an inheritance to your tribes – from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west.  God, your God will drive them out of your path until there’s nothing left of them and you take over their land just as God, your God, promised you.

Now stay strong and steady.  Obediently do everything written in the Book of the Revelation of Moses – don’t miss a detail.  Don’t get mixed up with the nations that are still around.  Don’t so much as speak the names of their gods or swear by them.  And by all means don’t worship or pray to them.  Hold tight to God, your God, just as you’ve done up to now.

God has driven out superpower nations before you.  And up to now, no one has been able to stand up to you.  Think of it – one of you, single-handedly putting a thousand on the run!  Because God is God, your God.  Because he fights for you, just as he promised you.

Now vigilantly guard your souls: Love God, your God.  Because if you wander off and start taking up with these remaining nations still among you (intermarry, say, and have other dealings with them), know for certain that God, your God, will not get rid of these nations for you.  They’ll be nothing but trouble to you…until you’re the ones who will be driven out of this good land that God, your God has given you….

Know this with all your heart, with everything in you, that not one detail has failed of all the good things God, your God, promised you.  It has all happened.  Nothing’s left undone – not so much as a word.

But just as sure as everything good that God, your God, has promised has come true, so also God will bring to pass every bad thing until there’s nothing left of you in this good land that God has given you.  If you leave the path of the Covenant of God, your God, that he commanded you, go off and serve and worship other Gods, God’s anger will blaze out against you.  In no time at all there’ll be nothing left of you, no sign that you’ve ever been in this good land he gave you.”

So, what happens when we do attain the rest that God provides, what happens when we are resting in God, rather than making rest for ourselves?  First, there is great blessing – Joshua mentions the fact that the Israelites were so feared at that time, that just the mention of one Israelite was enough to send a thousand people from another nation running.  God clearly had done a great work, and the Israelites, having been obedient to trust God and do what he asked, were experiencing great prosperity and blessing – God’s provision of rest.  They were resting in him, having learned lessons from the past generation of rest seeking Israelites.

The second thing that happens, and this is solely because we are human, is we tend to get caught up in the moment.  We are experiencing a great blessing and God’s provision – we rest and we relax in that.
With that relaxation comes a tendency to indulge in the things of this world.  Joshua warned the Israelites to not let their guard down toward the other inhabitants of that land.  When you are given power over something, or someone, it can be very easy to live a comfortable life around it.

I lead worship for Celebrate Recovery every Tuesday night, and I got to experience this band of “celebrators” sharing their stories the other night.  Their recovery stories were all similar with different slants.  Some battled alcohol, some gambling, some tobacco, some sexual addiction.  Some had been sober for six weeks and some had been sober for 27 years.  But every single one of them knew that in no circumstance could they tolerate being around the thing they battled.  The alcoholics, whether they had been free for six weeks or 27 years, would never put themselves in a situation where alcohol was freely available – if they did, they would be starting all over again.

God knows this – and so with his rest comes warnings.  Joshua tells us, “Stay alert!  Stay strong and steady!  Obediently follow the law!  Vigilantly guard your souls!”

One of my favorite refrains in a song comes from Matt Redman’s “Blessed Be Your Name:” “You give and take away.”  This is so hard to comprehend because we want to equate it with God’s goodness.  But in his goodness, he will take away the things he has provided in order to prove that he is God.  God will remove his blessing, provision and rest from our lives if we return to the things that he despises.

Be on guard, stay strong and steady, be alert, and obediently follow God’s directions – that is the only way to maintain God’s provision of rest.

Rest: it means to cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.  I do not know about you, but I know that I do not “rest” well.  I sleep great at night, but that is probably because I go so long with out resting all the time.  I am eager to find out the entirety of what the Bible has to say about rest, its importance for us, and how to do it.

The next several mentions of rest comes from the book of Joshua, as the people experience the fulfillment of what God described for them [I will be using the Message paraphrase]:

Joshua took the whole region. He did everything that God had told Moses. Then he parceled it out as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribes. And Israel had rest from war.  [11.23]

Joshua blessed [Caleb]. He gave Hebron to Caleb as an inheritance. Hebron belongs to Caleb still today, because he gave himself totally to God, the God of Israel…And the land had rest from war.  [14.13-15]

And God gave them rest on all sides, as he had also solemnly vowed to their ancestors. Not a single one of their enemies was able to stand up to them – God handed over all their enemies to them.  [21.44]

And now God, your God, has given rest to your brothers just as he promised them. You’re now free to go back to your homes, the country of your inheritance that Moses the servant of God gave you on the other side of the Jordan. [22.4]

Yesterday I asked the question: Will it not be worth it, to do whatever it is that God asks you to do, when you are experiencing his rest?

The first two generations of Israelites post-Egyptian slavery paint two very different pictures of what it means to experience rest.  The first generation “rested” for forty years in the desert, wandering around, not experiencing war.  The second generation advanced into the Promised Land, facing the fierce people who lived there and participated in God’s great plan to defeat those people, granting the land to the Israelites.

As I read through those verses describing how the land received rest and the people received rest, the only thing running through my mind was this: God was faithful.  He came through, he accomplished what it was that he said he would do!

I am afraid, that too often, I am one like the first generation.  I whine, complain, beg for provision, but then attain it my own way, resting in the desert without God’s satisfaction in my life.  How can I change this?

Trust.  Believing that God is going to come through, based on all of his prior actions and efforts.  If I am attentive to his voice, listening for his direction, and following through in obedience, I will experience God’s rest for me instead of my own rest in loneliness and dissatisfaction.

I do not want to be a desert dweller, but a Promise Land rester.

Rest: it means to cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.  I do not know about you, but I know that I do not “rest” well.  I sleep great at night, but that is probably because I go so long with out resting all the time.  I am eager to find out the entirety of what the Bible has to say about rest, its importance for us, and how to do it.

The next mention of rest comes from Deuteronomy 12, as the Lord is instructing them on entering the Promised Land [I will be using the Message paraphrase]:

Until now you haven’t arrived at the goal, the resting place, the inheritance that God, your God, is giving you. But the minute you cross the Jordan River and settle into the land God, your God, is enabling you to inherit, he’ll give you rest from all your surrounding enemies. You’ll be able to settle down and live in safety. [v. 9, 10]

So far, I have discovered that resting is important for a few reasons:

1] It brings glory to God

2] It allows him to provide for us

3] It is paramount for good relationships

God, because he is God, the great Creator and Mastermind, knows that rest is good for us and that it keeps us in right relationship with him and others.  But here we find that rest is also the result of obedience.

The Israelites were facing an overwhelming task – to take on all the people who inhabited the Promised Land with out God’s help would have been suicide.  But, even with God, it was going to be a lot of work.  Obedience is not fun because obedience is not easy.  It takes great effort to follow through on the things that God has asked you to do.

Often times, the things of God and the things he asks us to do are so backwards from the things we are comfortable doing.  Giving money that we have earned away when we are in a dire financial situation; speaking up in the middle of a group of people and saying the opposite thing of everyone else because it is what God has laid on your heart; these are random examples of what it could mean to follow through when God has asked you to do something.  Being willing to give up our comforts takes a great deal of sacrifice – but God knows this.

Because he is a good God, because he loves us, cherishes us, and only wants the best for us, he provides rest in the midst of our obedience.

This was something the first generation of Israelites to enter the desert refused to participate in.  The writer of Hebrews describes this in the fourth chapter: “We received the same promises as those in the wilderness, but the promises didn’t do them a bit of good, because they didn’t receive the promises with faith.” [v. 2]

The fulfillment of rest in our lives comes from trusting God, trusting that he will continue to prove himself faithful as always.

Think of it this way: if, whatever that enormous thing God is asking you to do, comes to pass and you are obedient, will it not be worth it when you are at rest, reflecting on the great grace of God to allow you to follow through?

I propose that the enjoyment we will experience in resting after being obedient in whatever God asks us to do will be greater than anything we could experience by our own hand.

What has God asked you to do that you are hesitating on?  Are you willing to take him at his word and trust him for his provision and rest?

Rest: it means to cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.  I do not know about you, but I know that I do not “rest” well.  I sleep great at night, but that is probably because I go so long with resting all the time.  I am eager to find out the entirety of what the Bible has to say about rest, its importance for us, and how to do it.

The fifth mention of rest comes from Deuteronomy 5, as Moses is describing God’s reasons for the Sabbath’s importance among the Ten Commandments [I will be using the Message paraphrase]:

I am God, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of slaves. No other gods, only me. No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatever, whether of things that fly or walk or swim. Don’t bow down to them and don’t serve them because I am God, your God, and I’m a most jealous God. I hold parents responsible for any sins they pass on to their children to the third, and yes, even to the fourth generation. But I’m lovingly loyal to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments. No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter; God won’t put up with the irreverent use of his name.  No working on the Sabbath; keep it holy just as God, your God, commanded you. Work six days, doing everything you have to do, but the seventh day is a Sabbath, a Rest Day – no work: not you, your son, your daughter, your servant, your maid, your ox, your donkey (or any of your animals), and not even the foreigner visiting your town. That way your servants and maids will get the same rest as you. Don’t ever forget that you were slaves in Egypt and God, your God, got you out of there in a powerful show of strength. That’s why God, your God, commands you to observe the day of Sabbath rest.

God goes on with the rest of the Ten Commandments in this passage – no murder, no adultery, no stealing, no lying, honor your parents, no coveting.  It strikes me as intriguing; there is clearly to be a high emphasis on rest, after all, it is one of the commandments.  Francis Chan describes very eloquently the reasons for the rules and regulations we must abide by in a short movie called, “Just Stop and Think.”  [It takes about 15 minutes, but it is worth it.]  In it he puts it plainly that the rules are not just to restrict us – but to make our lives better.

I want my life to be better.  I think most of us do.  It is easy to see when someone commits a “big” sin, such as murder or adultery.  Some of them can be harder to spot, like lying or coveting.  Or not resting.

Interestingly enough, I have had friends let me know when I have been a jerk to them, or pointed out when I lied – but no one has ever told me I am not getting enough rest.  Except my wife, because she can see it when it is lacking.  It affects her and our relationship.  It also affects my other relationships – but we shrug it off as, “Oh, he’s just crabby today.”  Or, even worse, “That’s just the way he is…”

Why does getting enough rest get the same (in fact more) attention by God as he relays the 10 Commandments?  First of all, it is a part of the commandments for the same reason all commandments are – relationships!  In order to have quality relationships with God and people, it is in our best interest to obey them.

Secondly, rest is so important to God, because, as we addressed the other day*, when we rest, we show God that we realize how important he is to our life’s breath!  When we do not rest, we show God that we really do not think he is that great.

It is a recognition that God has taken us from our old life of slavery and delivered us into our new life of freedom.

Interestingly, God instructs us to keep the Sabbath day holy, as he is holy.  Why would he say this?  Well, by being active, I would assume it would be more likely for us to sin and profane the things that God created, which is the very opposite of what the word “holy” describes.

Resting is so key to not only recognizing God as the one true God, but also in maintaining healthy relationships.  Think about the last time you got upset with someone – were you, by chance, a bit on the tired side?

I can nearly pinpoint 100% of my offenses in moments where I have been tired.  But, if I am rested, I can function better with the people God has placed in my life, not taking offense to their actions.

I am also more pleasant to be with – and so are you.

The fourth relevant mention of rest comes from Exodus 31, as God is describing the reasons for the Sabbath to Moses while on Mt. Sinai [I will be using the Message paraphrase]:

“God spoke to Moses: ‘Tell the Israelites, “Above all, keep my Sabbaths, the sign between me and you, generation after generation, to keep the knowledge alive that I am the God who makes you holy. Keep the Sabbath; it’s holy to you. Whoever profanes it will most certainly be put to death. Whoever works on it will be excommunicated from the people. There are six days for work but the seventh day is Sabbath, pure rest, holy to God. Anyone who works on the Sabbath will most certainly be put to death. The Israelites will keep the Sabbath, observe Sabbath-keeping down through the generations, as a standing covenant.  It’s a fixed sign between me and the Israelites. Yes, because in six days God made the Heavens and the Earth and on the seventh day he stopped and took a long, deep breath.”’” [v.12-17]

As I first read this, I thought – “Death!  For not keeping the Sabbath??  That sounds so Pharisaical!”  Yet there it is, right from God’s mouth, “Anyone who works on the Sabbath will most certainly be put to death.”  At the very least, just before that, God says whoever works on the Sabbath day will be excommunicated [which I guess death would fit that category.]

But as I read it again, I realized why this was such an important thing: the Sabbath day, the day of rest, the times that you stop what you are doing so that you can relax, refresh, or recover – though those times are for us, though they are so that we can continue to do our work well – more importantly, those times are to be a reminder.  A reminder, not just that God took six days to create the world and then rested one, but that he is God.  It is designed to “Keep the knowledge alive” that he is the God who makes us holy.

With out God making us holy, making us one with him, we would experience, instead of rest, everlasting work [death] and a never ending torturous existence.  As far as I can tell, the most important reason for our resting is a continued acknowledgement that God is God and we are not.  It is not that we are reminding ourselves that even God needed rest – are you kidding me?!? That is not a necessary thing for God – he does not need rest.  But he rested, my best guess is, because he wanted to stop and enjoy the satisfaction that came from what he had made.  “It is good,” he said, after every single event of creation.

If we continue to work and never rest, will we be able to stop, look, and see that God is good in the midst of all the trials, pain, and hard work we endure?  Even bigger than that, we will stop, look, and see that God is God and we are not?

I think the obvious answer is no – we do not have what it takes to comprehend those things without resting, with out stopping, because when we work consistently, we continue to rely on ourselves for our own provision, believing, in a way, that we are little gods, creating, crafting, and ultimately circumventing God in his role as Creator and Crafter.  He is holy and worthy to be praised.  If we do not stop to look and to see, we will not be able to comprehend that God is God and we are not.

Rest: it means to cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.  I do not know about you, but I know that I do not “rest” well.  I sleep great at night, but that is probably because I go so long with resting all the time.  I am eager to find out the entirety of what the Bible has to say about rest, its importance for us, and how to do it.

The second applicable mention of rest comes from Exodus 16, the Israelites experience of God’s provision in the form of manna [I will be using the Message paraphrase]:

“On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, about four quarts per person. Then the leaders of the company came to Moses and reported. Moses said, ‘This is what God was talking about: Tomorrow is a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to God. Whatever you plan to bake, bake today; and whatever you plan to boil, boil today. Then set aside the leftovers until morning.’ They set aside what was left until morning, as Moses had commanded. It didn’t smell bad and there were no worms in it. Moses said, ‘Now eat it; this is the day, a Sabbath for God. You won’t find any of it on the ground today. Gather it every day for six days, but the seventh day is Sabbath; there won’t be any of it on the ground.’ On the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather anyway but they didn’t find anything. God said to Moses, ‘How long are you going to disobey my commands and not follow my instructions? Don’t you see that God has given you the Sabbath? So on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. So, each of you, stay home. Don’t leave home on the seventh day.’ So the people quit working on the seventh day.” [v.22 – 30]

One of the number one reasons I have a hard time resting is because there is so much to be done!  How can I possibly be a good steward of the things God has given me and asked me to do when I let all the things there are to do slide by stopping and resting.

This is the question we ask ourselves to justify our lack of rest.  The reality is there is a lot to be done.  No matter what line of work you find yourself in, there is always more to be finished.  If you are a teacher, you are always preparing for the next day’s lessons; as a construction worker, you are always finishing the current project so you can start on the next project; as a pastor, you are always moving from one meeting to the next – there are people, situations, or projects which need your attention no matter what your employment looks like.

There are a couple of truths about this reality though:

1] For some of us, it may be that we do not rest because we slack on our work throughout our days, not accomplishing every thing we can accomplish while working.

This is the effect of pride in our work ethic: “I have so much to do, but I am so overworked, so I will take a break here.” And the here becomes there, and there, and there.  We justify this in our minds, saying that we do need rest.  Then we find ourselves working seven days a week.

2] The second truth about this reality is we think we need to provide for ourselves.  A lot of our livelihoods are based on how much we do; very rarely does little performance equal greater pay.  So we work more, ensuring that we will be provided for.  This is what the Israelite’s experienced in their first Sabbath.  The instruction was to gather enough for tomorrow today, because it was going to be provided for today so that they did not have to gather tomorrow; instead they could rest.  Yet, tomorrow came, and some of them went out anyway, expecting God’s provision so that they could provide for themselves.  Though they obviously could recognize that God was providing the manna every morning, they still depended more on their own knowledge to provide enough to have for the next day because they did not trust God’s initial provision.

If we are being dutiful and diligent to do the things he has asked us to do on a daily basis and allowing for a day to rest, the Lord will provide what we need.  We do not need to work harder and we do not need to take more breaks during our workweek to ensure that we are not overworked.

Which side of the spectrum do you find yourself on?

I find myself more on the slacker side.  I am not obedient to fully walk out the things God has asked me to do in my everyday life.  This is not honoring of him – and this is the heart of rest – honoring him is the reason for rest.  When we rest, we prove that we trust him for his provision and we prove that we work diligently when we are supposed to.

Here is to more rest and more accomplished!

Rest: it means to cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.  I do not know about you, but I know that I do not “rest” well.  I sleep great at night, but that is probably because I go so long with out resting all the time.  I am eager to find out the entirety of what the Bible has to say about rest, its importance for us, and how to do it.

The first applicable mention of rest comes from Genesis 18, when God presents himself face to face with Abraham [I will be using the Message paraphrase]:

“God appeared to Abraham…while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. It was the hottest part of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing. He ran from his tent to greet them and bowed before them. He said, “Master, if it please you, stop for a while with your servant. I’ll get some water so you can wash your feet. Rest under this tree. I’ll get some food to refresh you on your way, since your travels have brought you across my path.” They said, “Certainly. Go ahead.” [v. 1 - 5]

When someone comes over to my house unannounced, I do not care whom it is; I would appreciate it if they would state their business and move on their way.  Clearly there is a big difference in accepted cultural practices from ours to Abraham’s.  Perhaps this was because people were fewer and fu2rther in between each other; the sight of another human being could be a welcome sight.  Today there are so many people, teeming as we go from our homes to work, and work to the store, and the store to home that by the time we get home we have had our fair share of people’s inconsistencies.

All of that is neither here nor there, but the thing that I am learning from this first discovery of rest was that Abraham, in the midst of strangers, offered rest as the first thing.  He did not demand to know their business, in fact it seems they were really just passing through.  But Abraham invited them in by running to greet them and then bowing before them.  Obviously, from the text we can guess that Abraham was pretty certain that it was the presence of God approaching him (side note: I wonder what he looked like!)  Abraham then invites them to rest while he gets food and water for their refreshing.

As I ponder these actions and reactions, trying to determine the reasons for Abraham’s activity as these men approached, I think I have come to a couple of conclusions.

1] Rest was necessary for clear thinking.

2] The offer of rest was good for relationships.

3] The result of rest promoted an understanding of respect.

How often do I make poor decisions or involve myself stupidly in conversations when I am tired?  How often do I stretch myself out to someone and allow them to rest before engaging them in “business,” so that I can be satisfied, instead allowing for them to be ready before I implore of their affairs?  How often do I promote a detrimental view of a relationship because I operate with out, or disallow anyone else to operate with proper rest before interaction.

As I think about it, more often than not, the fights I find myself in with my wife stem from lack of rest.  And I think we will find over this trek of the word “rest,” that we do not just need more sleep at night, but a better understanding of what it means to cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.  I think we will find that there is great power in that mysterious rest that God speaks of so often in his truth to us.