Dear friend,
I don’t know about you, but when people asked me how I was doing when I was a teenager, the common answer was, “Tired but good.”
I wasn’t a terribly busy teenager. You know, the goes-to-school-works-a-job-plays-sports-has-a-social-life teenager. I was more the quiet-homeschooler-works-a-job-has-two-friends-reads-books kind of teen.
But even though I wasn’t as busy as most kids my age, I always felt pressure to be doing things. In our culture we are trained from childhood to be productive and always busy. A common phrase I’ve heard thrown around is “No rest for the weary.”
People often work seven days a week, whether for money or just around the house. That can’t be healthy.
Rest is important.
I’ve been thinking and studying a lot about rest recently. It turns out, the Bible has a lot to say about the topic. I guess God thinks it’s pretty important.
Hebrews 4 is almost exclusively about rest. (Go read the whole chapter. It’ll only take a few minutes.)
Obviously, anyone can take a nap. But God seems to have a special desire for his people to rest.
“So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world.” (Hebrews 4:9-10)
There is a special rest for those who have faith in Jesus. This rest is like the rest God took after creating the world.
I don’t know about you, but every time I used to read in Genesis that God rested. I thought it meant that he rested from work. You know, that thing that isn’t all that fun and nobody really likes.
But it says God rested from creating. As a creative person, I think of creative work as not-technically-work. I tell myself, “It is fun and energizing, so why would I need to rest?”
What do you want to bet that God was having fun when he spent six days straight creating the universe?
And yet he still stopped and took a chill pill.
God has a special rest for his people.
What rest looks like.
If the God Who Made The Universe rested from creativity, how can we say that we don’t need to rest from creativity ourselves?
Resting by definition is stopping an activity. Hebrews 4 also has an addendum to this.
“For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them (the Old Testament Jews). But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God. For only we who believe can enter his rest.” (verses 2-3)
The special rest from God that we read about earlier is dependent on faith in Jesus. In Matthew 11, Jesus says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
That relationship with Jesus is the key to accessing that special kind of rest. In order to have someone take something you are carrying, you have to get close to them. So to access God’s special rest, get close to him. Spend time with him.
So, even though creativity is good (in fact, God is the ultimate source of creativity), make sure to take breaks. Rest from the work you are doing. Spend that time with Jesus. You will be resting not only physically, but also in your soul.
Sincerely,
R. J. Catlin
This is a good one! I always need a reminder to rest ;)
Real wisdom here. Thank you.
You’re welcome! I’m glad it was helpful!
A very good reminder.
Oh, good!