Rest

This week I’m trying to do something I battle with on a regular basis. 

“Hello. My name is Sankie. I struggle with true rest.” 

Sometimes we're so "squeezed" by other forces
 that we miss out on true rest. 

There. I’ve said it. I’ve come out publicly. It is a condition worthy of having a support group for. This group I’m in has reached epidemic proportions. 

But I’m trying to truly REST this week. Rest is a God-ordained part of our life experience. God made us to not only require, but enjoy true rest. 

After God made everything and declared it, “very good,” He then rested on the seventh day. That does not mean that God is like us requiring rest, because God tells us in several places that, in fact, He is not like us in this way, and does not require rest from being physically, emotionally, or mentally tired. Clearly, He is not like us in this way. He is transcendently above and different from us in that manner. He does not require the same type of rest. 

So why does God “rest” after creation? Rest is a beautiful thing that God ordained. God even joined us in His own form of rest after creation. The Sabbath day of rest was not supposed to be an adult “time out” for playing too hard. It was not to keep us from being so egotistically-pursuit-driven that God had to put a leash on us. That may be a ripple effect of God’s intention of rest, but God gave rest as a good thing to pause, slow down, contemplate the graces and gifts He’s given (no matter your current circumstances) to look back at what He has provided and to look forward in anticipation of what He is doing currently and in the future. Rest points us back to God’s goodness and faithfulness. 

Ultimately, our true “Rest” is found in the Person of Christ. We are to “rest” in the faithful provision of what Jesus did on the cross instead of striving to “do” or “be” good enough to make it to God. We could never have made it to God on our own effort. So God’s message to us is “cease striving in your own efforts towards me and instead rest in the work Christ did in His life, death, and resurrection.” Jesus Christ is our ultimate rest. 

So how faithful are we at rest? 

• When I say I struggle with true rest, I do not mean I don’t get plenty of rest at night. I sleep heavily through the night and feel rested every morning. I probably don’t worry about things enough! (just kidding-worry is not good for those who struggle with it)

• I don’t struggle with email controlling me. I probably don’t spend enough time checking email. 

• I don’t struggle with ignoring my wife or children for sports, television, internet, hobbies, or my schoolwork. 

• I don’t struggle with the calendar controlling me or having to fill it with events to make me feel like I’m being productive. 

I struggle with laying down things during scheduled “restful” times like vacation. As we were sitting at the lake this weekend, I found myself thinking about a list of “to-do” items for work that still need to get done. I was thinking about the many dads and families I could be getting to know better. I was thinking about the list of details for our upcoming summer events. I was thinking about the one last assignment for seminary with four large book reports due next week. I was thinking about gearing up for the fall. 

STOP! You’re supposed to be resting. Enjoying God’s beautiful creation of simple things surrounding me like trees, hills, cliffs, the lake. Most importantly enjoying God’s most gracious gifts of Jamie, the boys, and other family members. God has placed beautiful objects of grace around me that I am to enjoy during restful times and busy times. But especially when “work” is off schedule. 

• We have purposefully, as a family, not overloaded our summer schedule with too much of anything. We are not doing any sports or classes over the summer. Just family time. We are not trying to be at every event in the surrounding area. Just family time. 

And that is not to impress you. It is actually showing a fault that I believe many of us succumb to in “doing” so much. That is to show how intentional we have to be in our current culture to make sure we are breathing deeply the air God has given right now. Just like you, we feel the pressure of schedules and calendars. And for us at this time in life, with the boys at their current ages, it’s just going by so incredibly fast. So shifting down into first gear may bring us the type of rest God intended. I believe with rest we discover a type of appreciation, enjoyment, relaxation, thankfulness, and contemplation that we may easily miss if we keep running in busyness. 

• When was the last time your family slowed down and truly just enjoyed time together without “doing” anything? 
• Do you feel a constant pressure to be doing more stuff to keep up in life? 
• Do you feel like there is always a few more things you wish you could accomplish each week? 
• Do you see others and wonder how they get so much accomplished in the same 24 hours? 
• Do you feel like you’re spread so thin in a hundred ways that you’re at about 30% efficiency on all of them instead of 90% efficiency in just a few? 
• Does your times of rest (weekend, vacation) end up tiring you and wearing you out more than your work week? 

Sometimes we’re afraid that we won’t accomplish all we’re supposed to. Sometimes all the leadership books have us convinced that we’re going to miss out on our full potential for success. Sometimes we’re afraid others will see us resting and think that we’re just being lazy compared to them. All of those fall under the idol of “pleasing man.” The Bible is very clear about the issue of man-pleasing versus living to please God (which includes rest!). We are so concerned about what others (and ourselves) think of us that we keep up our busy fragmented shuffles each week. Those weeks turn into months. The months turn into years. And before long, we’ve  missed out on enjoying and contemplating deeply all God had intended around us. 

When all of those “must-do” tasks creep into my mind, I am trying to let go of them and the pressure they bring. I am asking God to give me greater enjoyment of each day and more specifically the people He has placed around me each day. 

How are you doing with God’s desire for you to experience true Biblical rest? 

If you’re like me, the answer is not in creating a new four step plan or strategy for implementing more rest (that’s less rest and more work doing that task), but instead, confess this type of striving to God. Ask Him to forgive you for not experiencing and enjoying His idea of rest. And ask Him for the grace to enjoy both hard work and blissful rest on a regular basis. Ask Him to give you wisdom to areas of your life where you are overextended and overcommitted. Ask Him to give you trust that your family and the your children will be just fine in life without having to compete with everyone else’s pace of life. Let the gospel bring restoration and rest back to your life!

Sankie P. Lynch

Pastor of Families

www.nbchurch.info

www.nbfamilies.info

sankie@nbchurch.info