{Index} Slow: Understanding Biblical Rest

 

Begin at the BeginningWe schedule and plan and fill each slot on our calendar with increasingly good things … and slowly, we become idolators. We worship at the altar of busy.  We lust for the feeling of checking things off our lists and we covet the praise of those who say, “I don’t know how you do it all.”

Why Rest? … From the beginning, God intended for us to rest.  He gave us His example of resting in Genesis, His commandment to rest in Exodus, and throughout Scripture we are called time and again to experience true rest in Him.    The call to rest  is a call to slow, and learning to heed that beckoning grows us closer to Him.

Resting in Chaos … I’m learning that rest isn’t always about circumstances … it’s deeply rooted in the heart.And it’s also much easier to experience when you know what’s really important to you.

I to Eye … I realized that I’m often guilty of believing I can’t stop, I can’t slow, I can’t rest, because if I do important things will not get done.   By pushing and racing and engaging in this frantic lifestyle of our culture I lost sight of my own humanity … I became my own idol.   I began to think of myself as indispensible, irreplaceable … as more than I am.

Divine Deliverance … Why, then, do we resist this Sabbath command?  What binds us to the slavery of chaos and busy-ness and speed? Again, speaking from my own experience, it’s wrapped up in selfishness … a desire to be the best, to do the most, to have more.  Speed always focuses on me; slow always rests in God.

A Slowing Exercise … Meditation on Psalm 23.

A Sudden Stop … Perhaps we’ve so immersed ourselves in the frenzy of preparing to rest that we’ve missed the truth that rest is almost always a sudden stop, a conscious choice to change our focus to the flame, to the light.

The Only Way to Rest … When we are heavy laden, when our labor feels in vain, when the days have worn us down, the first place we share our burden is with the masses on Facebook rather than the Lover of our Souls.

My Failure to Slow … Slowing isn’t easy … and learning the discipline of rest has challenged every part of me.   I’ve learned one very bitter lesson:  When I fail to slow physically, I also fail to be still spiritually.    Maybe you’ve learned that one too.

Choosing Rest … Yes, there are still boxes to unpack and laundry to do and an empty fridge and pantry and the list goes on and on … but I’m choosing rest today.  How do you take the sudden stop?

Come and Rest … The simple truth, though, is that all we’ve discovered, all we’ve learned, all that has been convicting and challenging, it’s all meaningless if we don’t do anything with it.

Read the Psalms this summer with Scripture Dig!

Comments

  1. I love the idea of rest not being based on our circumstances but upon the attitude of our hearts. We often out off proper rest thinking we just don’t have the time but its not to do with time but the letting peace into our hearts.

  2. I was debating whether to do a little blog hopping or take a nap while my girls are sleeping, yours was the first blog I came to : ) I guess I better go lay down.

Trackbacks

  1. […] about rest … even rest when life is chaotic.  But today, as we round out this “Slow:  Understanding Biblical Rest” series, let’s get practical.  HOW do we carve out time for rest?  WHAT does this […]

  2. […] the meantime, you might want to read the Slow:  Understanding Biblical Rest posts or maybe you’d like to check out a book or two that I recommend.   Of course, […]

  3. […] time, welcome! I’m thrilled you are here. You might be interested in the series I wrote about biblical rest or maybe my journey to understanding simplicity. Perhaps you are a mom in need of encouragement or […]

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