The Unexpected Power of Rest
Scott and I are drawing to a close on a series of Sunday messages that we called "Big Words of the Bible." What a title! It reminds me of teaching Sunday School classes decades ago. My words have not lived up to BIG. But that was kind of my point when I coined the series title. I don't know if anyone noticed, but I was trying to say - what God says is BIG, we often discount.
But I am first and foremost a mother and grandmother - I believe with all my hard that BIG truths, BIG points, and BIG callings often show up in small packages. My word for this week is very, very small: REST. But I think it is BIG for a couple of reasons.
As the Snickers commercial says, "You're not yourself when you are hungry." This is an abbreviated sentiment of the old recovery phrase, "Do not get to hungry, angry, lonely or tired (HALT)." Presuming that if we do, nothing good will come of it. My own grandchildren point to the truth. Those little angels can be quite the handfuls when they are too tired. It's not like tired slows them down for snuggles...Tired ramps them up. They get hyper. They start yelling and carrying on. They are not themselves.
I'm not sure why when we grow up we forget the basics of what reasonable parents know about their children - children need rest. They need to go to bed early and take naps! They need quiet time to read books. They need snacks. And this is also true for us.
But we live in a world that honors busy, productivity, efficiency...and to quote a band called Cake, "Getting up early and staying up late."
God doesn't agree. Sprinkled throughout the scriptures, God says things like....
"I'll refresh tired bodies." Jeremiah 31:25 Message
"He makes me lie down in green pastures." Psalm 23:2
"Come to me all you that are weary ...and I will give you rest". Matthew 11:28
Rest is an acknowledgement that we are human. Rest is respectful of our bodies and its limitations. Rest is essential for us to heal and thrive. Rest is an indicator that vulnerability is not a character defect. It lowers our stress hormones, helps us with weight management, increases our capacity for creativity and more more more.
Our resistance to rest is perhaps an indication that we have forgotten that we are human, and God really is not dependent on us to keep the earth rotating on its axis. Or maybe part of the problem is that we humans have a bad habit of ascribing our cultural norms to God - as if it was his idea. But being busy all the time is not a God thing. Give yourself a break!
We live in a world that does not support rest - at least in our culture. But what if we learned how to rest...and were able to become a safe place for others to rest? What if we stopped pushing people, demanding things of them, rushing through life....and just ....rested. How does that feel to you?
