So rest isn’t easy, but it’s necessary. I’m the kind of person who needs to be doing things. Well, most of the time that’s how I would have described myself. Admittedly, something has changed in me over the past several months to help me realize who and what is truly important. Sometimes it takes a hardship or challenge to get us to that point. I’m just grateful to be in a more balanced rhythm.
As a musician, ok so nominally a musician since I rarely play anymore, I never did like the long periods of rest in a piece of music. It was during those measures of rest that I tended to get lost and daydream and would regularly forget to start playing again! But the rest is what makes the rhythm make sense. If we don’t have rests in music, it’s just a bunch of silly noise that no one really can enjoy.
The same is true in our lives. If we don’t have regular ups and downs of work and rest, we’ll just be making a bunch of noise in life. And that noise will not only be hard for everyone else to hear, it will also be harmful to us.
As we move through January, we’re focusing on rhythm and how to get our lives back into some form of healthy rhythm. As a follower of Jesus, I believe we can best find our rhythm in the way we were created. The Bible says we were created in the image of God. So if we’re in the image of God, then how did he do things?
As we look at creation, we find God working then resting to admire and enjoy what he made. I think this rhythm ebbs and flows throughout the bible. Working and resting are regular parts of life in the Bible. There’s even a day set aside by God the whole purpose of which is to give us the blessing of rest. It’s called the sabbath. That set apart sabbath day is supposed to be about resting and remembering.
The bible shows over and over that this resting is supposed to remind us that we can’t do it all. It’s supposed to point us back to the times when God has stepped in and done for us. It’s supposed to remind us of when God did what was needed at just the right time to save us from not only our problems but also from ourselves!
But what God intended for our good, we soon turned into something evil and distorted. We either abuse rest and become lazy, or we neglect rest and live out some stupid messiah complex. Sorry but we’re not supposed to be either! We’re supposed to thrive and the pace of life right now is not built for you and me to thrive in any manner of speaking.
What follows is a 20 minute or so message on this idea of rest as rhythm for life and what I learned from a life without rest. I pray that you find the real rest that you need with the ones who can care for you properly in your time of recharging.
