Skip to main content

The Importance of Rest


Last Sunday my husband and I had the opportunity to attend worship services in Paragould, AR at a friend's church.   As the pianist at my church it is always a delight to have a break from playing so that my soul can fully worship my King.  (Of course it is possible to worship through playing music but I love being able to worship without also accompanying a congregation at the same time.)

I have been thinking about last Sunday's sermon on resting all week long.   (You can actually listen to Pastor Jared's sermon through this link.)  As an organized, type A efficient young woman I have trouble resting.  I feel this inner drive to keep doing and making and going and on and on and on.  I just can't sit still even though I know it's important.  One of the worst things in the world for me is to be somewhere and to have nothing with me to occupy my time.  I am the lady at the doctor's office who brings a bag full of activities for a 20 minute appointment for fear or running out of work to occupy my time.  :)

Rest is important for all of us.  Let me say that again.  Rest is important.  God thought that rest should be such an important priority in our lives that He established the Sabbath in Genesis.  Sabbath.  A day of rest. A time to step back from our busyness and be refreshed by the Lord.  Why is it so hard for us as Christians to embrace a good thing that God has given us?  Rest is a wonderful thing.

Throughout my life I have wavered a lot in practice of resting or taking a Sabbath each week.  There have been years where I worked through legalism and then there have been years when resting was not a regular part of my week at all.  I was utterly convicted last week of the importance of setting aside a day to rest.  God gave us the example of Sabbath rest.  Not as a punishment but rather as a gift.  Hebrews 4:9 tells us, "So then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God."  Think for a minute how your week could be utterly changed if we took these words to heart.  How could taking a day to rest and focus on our walk with Christ impact your life?  

In Mark 2:27 Jesus told his disciples that "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."  For those of us who believe the Gospel, we are able to rest the way God rests.  This doesn't mean that my day of rest will include spending all day catching up on my favorite episodes of Downton Abbey.  Instead it means a day focused on refreshing my soul as I set aside a specific day to spend time with the Lord.  This sounds great but can this really happen for today's modern Christian woman?  Yes!  Over and over again one of the things I have to continually tell myself is that who I am is not dependent on what I do.  Although I wish often that God would give me just a few extra hours in my day, He has already given me the time to accomplish everything that He wants me to do.  God does not love me more because I accomplished everything on my to-do list for today and He doesn't love me any less if I don't accomplish one thing.

As I have mulled over Pastor Jared's sermon this past week I have been working on fleshing out what it truly means to rest and enjoy God one day a week.  I have been asking myself the question:

 "What helps me to enjoy God?"
  • Spending time with Christ as I pour over his Word, spend time in prayer, and take advantage of time to write out what He is teaching me in my journal.    
  • Getting outside and enjoying God's creation through walking, hiking, kayaking, exploring parks, and horseback riding.  
  • Taking a nice long nap outside on a blanket.
  • Sharing what God is doing in my life with friends or with my husband.  
  • Spending time with my family making breakfast and going on an adventure.  
  • Eating simple meals.  Practically speaking a restful day also includes leisurely easy meals to prepare that are for the most part un-impressive.  This also means that I am not spending my day washing three sinkfuls of dishes.  
  • This also means that as a pastor's wife, my day of rest is NOT on Sunday.  For pastor's Sunday is a long work day.  My husband's work day often begins at 6:30 on Sunday morning and extends until well past dinnertime.  I have decided to make Sunday a fun day for my children but also a day of work in order that as a family we can truly rest on Saturdays.  
So what about you?  Do you regularly take a Sabbath or set aside a day of rest?  What does that look like in your own family?  I would love to hear how you intentionally set aside time to enjoy God.  









Comments

  1. i struggle with finding rest too--must be a firstborn thing!

    we don't have an "official" sabbath right now but i've been thinking more about implementing one, more officially, once we're out of "survival mode". right now i try not to grade or work on saturdays, so we can have a day of family time only, and sundays are always easy easy meals, like pasta or leftovers.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

August Reads

None Like Him: 10 Ways God is Different From Us by Jen Wilkin :  I'm quickly becoming quite the fan of Mrs. Jen Wilkin.  I've been working through her 1 Peter Bible Study this summer and I absolutely loved reading through this book on the attributes of God.  I found myself reminded of so many things and almost felt a sense of relief as I contemplated what God is like.  This book was a delight to read.  I love that there is now a book on God's attributes written especially for women.  Pure awesomeness!  I highly recommend this book for both new believers and those with years of experience.  I also think it would make a great book club book. The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian: This book is one that I have been wanting to read for years and I just never got around to it.  I am so glad that I finally took the time to read and pray through this book!  What better gift could I give my husband the past month than to spend time earnestly praying for him through a

Our First Tent Camping Experience

Earlier in June we embarked on a new adventure.  TENT CAMPING!   Two summers ago we enjoyed a wonderful time camping in a borrowed pop-up camper but this was our first experience sleeping in a tent as a family.  We loaded up our very full van and headed to Land Between the Lakes in Western Kentucky for a new adventure.  It was wonderful.   One of the neatest aspects of our trip was the fact that Nina & Poppy Steve (Brandon's parents) were able to meet up with us!  (They live a good 10 hours away from us so this was a real treat.)  We had so much spending time with them.  We stayed at  Hillman Ferry Campground  and I would definitely stay there again.   Hillman Ferry Campground has a lovely beach with an area roped off for swimming.  The kids enjoyed playing in the sand and I even took them swimming in the lake.  I have been swimming many times in a lake but I think this was my children's first real time swimming in a lake.  (The closest lake to us no longer

This Week's Goals

We have been so blessed to fill our August with such fun family memories. In the picture above we enjoyed a day trip to the Columbus Zoo where we got to get up close with some kangaroos!   August has been so busy for our family that I've neglected to share my goals the past few weeks.  We've been squeezing in lots of summer fun as we transition back to school days.  I also began teaching fall piano lessons.  Here are a few of my goals for this upcoming week.      This Week's Goals Marriage, Mothering, & Family 1.  Eli is playing flag football this fall!  I'm excited to attend his game on Saturday. 2.  Eva has a therapy appointment this week.  I am so thankful for all of the incredible progress that she has made over the past year.   3.  Take both children to the park to play this week.   Homemaking 4.  Work on plans for Disney.  I need to work on our packing list and make some reservations.  I also need to purchase a number of items before we lea