Learning to Rest

Get your cup of tea or coffee I would like to tell you what God has been teaching me.


The Lord continues to mold me into His likeness and I am grateful for the lessons I have learned along the way. Recently in Church http://www.fpctacoma.com (we have a new Pastor who is a wonderful teacher and writer!) our pastor has been teaching on Genesis. Oh great I thought I wonder what new illuminations will come from the creation story. Well hold on to your britches friends cause here is a lesson that I think is worth blogging about!

Life is so full isn't it? Full of messy things: buying a house, adopting a baby, paying the bills. It is filled with good things too, getting spring bulbs to plant in the fall season, soccer practice and games, school time and new pencils and apples. These "life happenings" often widens our lens too much and distorts the foundational caponents that we were created with.

Right now I am holding to this notion, that God has designed, a rhythmic pattern of rest into our lives. This is modeled for us in the creation story where we are shown how to rest. Even our Godl, creator of the universe rested!

Then, again when we are given the ten commandments and God Himself tells us to rest on the Sabbath day and keep it holy.

Jesus himself took time away to pray in a time of solitude and rest.

How do you fair? I confess I'm a bit outta practice. That, mind you, is just the flip side of, I need a LOT of work! Did you know we are at our best spiritually, emotionally and physically when we get the rest we need? It has been built in and all around us the world screams for us to be counter-intuative. Work more hours, excersise more, stay up later to get more done. I'm pretty sure there is a reason the sun goes down at night, think about it.

Much of what I hear and see around me says otherwise. If I am not bustling about driving here and there, or volunteering for this and calling for that then I am not productive and perhaps even thought of as, dare I say, lazy?

So, I encourage you now practice your earthy components, take time to rest. Take time to build relationships with those who matter to you and take time to develop, and be in your own brain, by your self. It is good for the soul and I'll bet that you will be connected to those around you in a better way too. Let's never stop learning my friend!