Are you the type of woman that will place the needs of everybody else before your own? Are you juggling so many balls that you can’t remember the last time you did something really good for yourself? Do you want life to slow down for a minute so you can take a breather and try to catch up? I think we would all be astounded to find out how many of us actually feel this way. We’re so entrenched in the routine of persevering through obstacles, being on the grind, and making it all work, that this is our normal. Many of us don’t remember what’s it like to be at peace and not have anyone or anything to take care of. The reality we must accept is that life may not ever slow down for us to take a breather, and sometimes we just have to take it anyway.
God has shown us in His Word that rest is extremely important. Genesis 2:2 tells us that He ended His work of creation and rested on the seventh day from all His labor. God blessed and sanctified this seventh day because His work was complete, and He was well pleased with His finished accomplishments. Many of us have jobs and careers where lots of paperwork is involved. We might leave our desks at the end of the day and never feel as though we’ve completed what we should have. This isn’t the case with God. He finished what He set out to accomplish, and then He rested.
Some of us even take our work home with us, because it seems there’s not enough time in the day to complete our tasks. Things pile up, and it is easy to feel like a hamster on a wheel, always running and never catching up. It is very easy to see how we might deny ourselves the time to rest because of all the responsibilities we have. But we’re not God. We can’t finish everything perfectly, and this we must accept. When we deny ourselves rest, we miss critical opportunities to experience God’s peace; to hang out with Him and just enjoy the company of His presence.
God is a Spirit. He doesn’t need rest, but He is showing us the importance of taking the time to chill out, and to rest from all our doings. Heavenly Father intends that we should enter into His rest. Hebrews 4:1-2(NLT) tells us, “God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. 2 For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God.”
Our rest comes from listening to God and having faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. All those many years ago, he knew we would be living in times like these, that our burdens would seem to far exceed our capability to handle them. This is why he tells us in Matthew 11:28(NLT), “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Our powerful and precious Lord will give us rest for our souls; this is the rest of salvation. We can’t get this rest anywhere else. We busy ourselves and occupy our time with so many other things, but those things cannot offer us what our Lord and Master offers. He offers us rest, and we need to take it.
Yes, we have a lot of balls to juggle, between work, family, and everything else; but we have to recalibrate with God. We have to do this as a way of honoring His commandment to remember the sabbath and keep it holy. We also must enter His rest to provide Him with an opportunity to impart something spiritually within us. He won’t force us to enter into His rest. You and I must extend the invitation and do so by quieting our minds and hearts at least one day a week, and intentionally closing off everything around us except His peace.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Taking the Time to Rest” written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.