January 5, 2022 “He rested.” As I’ve mentioned previously, I have a habit of overloading my schedule and trying to do too much. While I’ve made an intentional effort to reduce my outside commitments (I try to limit myself to two events/outings a week without my family), I still overload my time. I may not be running the roads with friends or participating in meetings/discussions/small groups, but I find other ways to fill every minute of my day. When I’m not engaged in an activity or conversation with my husband or son, I work my way through the never-ending list of household jobs that need to be completed. I work on craft projects (I didn’t say I finish them). I read. I watch YouTube videos. I fill every minute with something – some activity, some distraction, some noise. “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.” God took time to rest. God doesn’t need rest. God is the source of all energy, the first mover. Yet God rested. He made the day of rest holy. I ignored that lesson. I wasn’t resting. I wasn’t taking significant time to just be still, be quiet, be open to what God has to say and reflect. I’ve said silly things like, “sleep is for the weak” and “I’ll have plenty of time to rest when my body stops working.” Over the last couple of months, I was blessed to be able to take a couple of trips with loved ones. After those trips, I thought I was feeling pretty rested and rejuvenated. Then, as we’ve celebrated the Christmas season, I’ve been blessed with time home with my husband and son. For some strange reason, I’ve been the first one awake in the Fargo household nearly every day for the last couple weeks (I’m usually not a morning person). Most of those days, I had at least an hour of time to just sit, drink coffee, enjoy the Christmas tree and enter the solitude and quiet. That was an hour or more every day to listen to what God was saying to me and follow where he wanted my thoughts to go. While I thought I felt rested and rejuvenated before, I feel even better now. I have more energy, more clarity and more peace than I’ve had in a long time, possibly ever. While it’s a bit maddening, it sometimes makes me laugh when I realize how long it takes me to see that God’s ways are always better than my ways. While the lessons have been many over the years, this time, I learned that God’s way involves rest. Thankfully, God isn’t at rest. He’s still working on me. He’s working on all of us. Sometimes, that work involves reminding us that “he rested.” |
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