During “The Reign Of The Rona” I have tried to be productive in my down time and use it wisely.  I had goals to read “x” amount of books each month, practice guitar every day, make sure I kept my lawn mowed and got my chores done…Sometimes I succeeded, but often times I fell into a “show hole” on Disney+, or down the never ending rabbit hole that is social media. 

I’ve given myself a lot of grace during this season, which is honestly hard for me to do.  I am typically a very high-energy, high production, never slow down individual.  But during the last three months I have been forced to slow down, and I have to say that it has been good for my overall health.  I no longer feel overwhelmed by my anxiety.   I feel like I am sleeping better, and I also feel like I have been able to connect with my wife better in the last three months than I have within the last three years.  All because I was forced to slowed down.

Slowing down is hard, especially for someone wired like me.  I am Type-A, a perfectionist, and a performer.  I like to get things done quickly, efficiently, and I like to be seen as the best at whatever I am doing…which usually means I am running 90 miles an hour to accomplish a lot.  But we weren’t meant to run at that pace for prolonged periods of time.  We weren’t designed that way.  Our body needs rest and relaxation.  We need to take time to breathe and recharge.  

God knew this when we made us.  He knew we would need intentional time for rest.  He modeled it within the first seven days of creation.  On day seven he rested.  The most creative, efficient, and talented being in the entire universe who never grows tired, weary, or runs out of steam rested!  God modeled for us what it means to live.  He was very creative and imaginative for six straight days, but on the seventh he stopped and rested.  He didn’t need to do it, but He chose to show us how to live our best and most productive lives.

He called this day of rest a Sabbath.  In the Ten Commandments He taught the Israelites what it meant to rest and cease from all work so that they could recharge, remember what God has done for them, and so they could give God the glory that He is do.  Instead of allowing them to run full speed and burn out God cared enough to give them the gift of a day of rest.  And He gives that same gift to us today, if we would choose to accept it.  

It is a hard gift to hold.  There is so much that needs to be done at work, there are so many chores that need to be done at home, there are so many(or at least there used to be) activities that we are involved with, and then there are all the family and church related events we want to be a part of.  The list goes on and on, and if we are not careful we will find ourselves running too fast and too hard and one day we will run out steam.  Before that day comes let us take time to slow down, look to God, and rest.

Your idea of rest might look different from mine.  In the Summer my rest is doing yard work and landscaping, going for walks, and taking the boat out on the lake.  In the winter it looks like going to a coffee shop or watching a good movie.  Rest is whatever recharges you and brings your closer to your family and God.  

So may you slow down, breathe, and find your Sabbath rest in the Lord.  

“The Sabbath was made for man, no man for the Sabbath.” – Mark 2:27

How can you begin to rest this week?

What recharges you?

What is your favorite way to rest?