With the holidays quickly approaching, my goal this season is to purposefully plan time to rest in the Lord.
Rest. It’s hard for me to do. I naturally love to keep busy, feel productive and have fun. Every autumn, you can find me at apple orchards, pumpkin farms and every harvest festival I can find. I love the fall season and want to soak in every ounce of it before winter comes. But autumn can also leave me feeling tired. Being overly busy, even with really fun things, can lead to exhaustion.
God models rest for us when He created the world. He made the entire universe, living things and humankind in six days. On the seventh day, He rested.
"By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done."
- Genesis 2:2-3
I'm sure after six days, there is much more He could have been doing. The Maker of the universe could have chosen to keep creating and designing. But instead He chose to rest.
Today I had the pleasure of being at home with my youngest child, Hudson, who is three years old. Hudson is a ball of energy. He loves wrestling, tickle wars and snuggling. He is such a joy to our family, and he never misses a beat. I noticed over the past few days that Hudson had been more cranky than his usual happy-go-lucky self. As his parent, I had an idea as to why – he’s tired. As the youngest of our family, he doesn’t want to miss out on anything, and he hasn’t been willing to take a nap in nearly a month. FOMO.
So I left my entire day open to model what rest looks like. We stayed home. We snuggled. And when nap time came, we grabbed our blankies, read a book and fell asleep in his twin-sized bunk.
As I laid there with my eyes closed, it wasn’t too long before I could hear his heavy breathing. It was so peaceful in that moment – to know he was getting the rest that he needed. And all it took was for me to model it for him. I laid there beside him for quite a long while before looking at his sweet face. When I looked up, his eyes were WIDE OPEN. (It startled me for a moment... and then it was a little comical. Our sweet child was so afraid of missing out, he’s sleeping with his eyes open.)
Sometimes I wonder if I'm guilty of that - resting with my eyes wide open - so afraid to miss out on something that I can't have peaceful rest. I pray that the Lord continues to grow me in what it means to rest in Him. Won't you pray with me?
Father God,
You are the Creator of all things. You designed the heavens and the earth. You formed something from nothing. You breathed life into the lifeless. And You rested.
You rested, and I pray that I can learn to better rest in You and Your holiness.
You rested, and I pray that I can learn to model what that looks like for my children and my husband.
You rested - on purpose - and I want to be like You and learn from your ways.
Please help me to find balance between creating, working and resting. In my rest, may I seek You and dive into a deeper communion with You.
Lord I thank you for this sweet life and family I've been blessed with.
Amen.