Rest in Creation
On the seventh day God rested, so why is it so difficult for us to?
If God can rest why can’t we?
Now, I am not talking about the mere ability to rest. I am well aware that we all can rest. However, if we have this ability, why do we not do it as much as we should, or sometimes even at all? Rest requires us to disconnect ourselves—not from life, but at least from the rigors that come along with it. It requires us not just to take off certain hats at certain times, but to take off all our hats.
We need to have a time when we are not needed, are not doing, and are just enjoying what has been done.
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day, God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.”1
If we cannot rest, we cannot recover.
As a runner, I cannot expect to always be running. If my body doesn’t rest, it cannot recover. Sleep is probably one of the most important recovery tools, and thereby one of our greatest opportunities for rest. It is a time when your brain can recover. It is the time when your brain can essentially turn itself off and heal. Sleeping helps you become smarter. It helps us cognitively. It helps us often reset our mental state from day to day. When our sleep is bad or unproductive, we often suffer because of it.
Similarly, without the Sabbath (true time off), we suffer, we lag, we can be sluggish, and our level of input can deteriorate.
Rest or Sabbath can entail many things, not just days off or sleeping at night. I think it can include times of reflection. In these times, we invite mental and spiritual healing by reflecting on where we have been and what we have done. We parse out the positives and negatives, understand the manner of growth we can pursue, and create a growth plan for ourselves.
Sabbath includes boundaries
—intentional ones that create space for this healing presence.
In creation, as God looked over the scope of what had been done, God saw the magnitude of the work. Was there still work to be done? Probably. However, God looked out and saw something that needed stillness. Humanity could exist within itself for a moment. The plants and animals were present, and as God rested, I am sure they were watched over.
God reflected on what had been happening throughout creation to that point and saw a moment for rest, recovery, and renewal. An opportunity to see the mighty fine job that had been done. An opportunity, before doing more, to realize what had been done and allow it a chance to just exist, to produce the natural growth it deserved.
In the same way, we need those moments.
We do not compare ourselves with our creator; we do not compare our work with creation. Rather, we exist in the moment of creation, with our own business, and seek the experience of God in their business and find rest.
Rest and Sabbath are a connection with God. We often struggle to find God in the busyness, so we seek to build our spiritual strength in the stillness and go forward empowered by our rest and God’s vision.
Where are your moments of rest, of connection with the divine? How are you allowing the healing process of rest to pervade your life?
AMEN!!!
Genesis 2:1-3 NRSV