The nature of the life we lead can often be very demanding.
Responsibilities require energy to carry them out. Loving people is not done without expending something of yourself in it.
That takes a toll.
This is why it was a genius part of the human set-up to require a number of hours of sleep after an extended period awake so as to rest the body and prepare it for another stretch of the being awake stuff.
Sometimes, however, even that cycle doesn’t quite compensate for the accumulated mental and physical energies that are expended in a given period of time. This is why it’s another genius idea of the Creator to instil a weekly time of rest from the labours of the week.
It’s really sad looking at some people who push it and seem to have to burn every single second of life available in the pursuit of … well in the pursuit of what?
Glory? They’re never still enough to enjoy it. Power? They’re actually exerting their energy in using their power to gain more power, never appreciating the power for the restorative effects it can offer, but far too captivated by the relentless quest for even more power. Money? There’s never enough. Security? That’s never a permanent state. Contentment? That seems fleeting and elusive.
All that effort, all that drive, all that energy and the tragedy is that the point of work is to enjoy the fruits of your labour. You’re hardly enjoying the fruits if you’re constantly looking for ways to make more fruit. Part of the brilliant aspect of life is the opportunity to stop, reflect, rest and enjoy what all the bother was about.
You spend hours and days with your children encouraging them in their efforts at school and at home. At some point, though, it’s good to actually chill out and celebrate their achievements. It’s great that they can relish in what they’ve done and get some satisfaction that it’s not always about the working. It’s about looking back as God did after day 6 of the Creation Project and saying – That is very good.
If that’s how parents should roll with their children, it’s just a blurry reflection of the Father’s relationship with His children. He’s actually not in the business of being a slave-master who drives the slaves to the brink of death. We’re not working to earn His pleasure so have to flog ourselves to the point of falling apart. That makes a mockery of His amazing grace.
There are bills to pay. There’s food to put on the table. Ends to be met. Thank God, though, that He persistently provides our daily needs. Not only that but as our Good Shepherd knows that sometimes the sheep in the fold need to be told to lie down, chill out, be restored rather than moping round the area going round and round and round.
I write from a perspective where sometimes my brain is just relentless. Idea after idea, issue after issue, item after item, it’s as though there’s always something to do and there’s always something I’ve got to help out with. I’ve pushed myself to that brink of a breakdown before, because I failed to heed the call to rest. I failed to heed the call ro enjoy the rest in Jesus. I failed to heed the call that says I am accepted in Him because of what He has done.
Having experienced the futility of striving for ends that seemingly can never be reached, it remains a delight to hear and respond to the call to rest.
Please don’t neglect that call, because it is very good from time to time to rest.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 