Rest, Part 1
Rest, Part 3
I said in another post that I didn't really understand what rest was, other than something God offers to those who are weary. I said I've tried to find rest through things like naps, conversations with friends, cups of hot tea, and other relaxing things. But I found these were just fillers for something that was missing. Relaxation is different from rest. Here are some ideas about the non-meaning of rest:
Rest is not anything that relaxes or gives a break. For a long time, I have thought that when I felt stressed out, the solution was to watch a TV show or play a computer game. It's reasonable to think that; after all, if my mind is working overtime to the point where I'm feeling sick, it makes sense to quickly stop the cycle by focusing on something else.
I'm not saying that I shouldn't watch TV shows or play computer games, or that I shouldn't do these things when I feel stressed. I'm saying these are temporary solutions, giving my brain a short break until an hour later when the same frustrations are in front of me and I have the added guilt of one hour less in which to deal with them.
Rest is not sleep. Feeling overwhelmed means I feel like I don't have the strength to do everything I need to do. That means I naturally feel tired when I feel overwhelmed. So I naturally conclude, "I can't get anything done if I'm sleepy" and I take a nap. During depression, these naps sometimes went up to four hours long - and that with sleeping in and going to bed early! Now my naps are more manageable, but I still take them for the wrong reasons.
I'm not saying that if I'm tired I shouldn't take a nap. I'm saying that genuine fatigue is different from the feeling of being overwhelmed. If I try to use sleep to cure my overwhelmation, then I'm using a physical band-aid to cure a spiritual problem. Don't get me wrong, lack of sleep and other physical factors can affect my mental state. But there comes a point where my naps are a form of escapism.
Rest is not devotions. In my search for what rest was, I started spending more time in prayer, in the Word, and keeping up with my Bible study. I found comfort and joy when I spent my time this way, but in itself, this time spent did not fill my need for rest. I know this because, despite my prayers for peace, I still struggled with overwhelmation almost daily.
I'm not saying that I shouldn't do devotions; I said in my last post that we talk with God individually in order to connect with him on a personal level. But I know my devotional time can feel stilted and programmed. If my devotional time is the extent of my relationship with Jesus, then I will not find rest in that scheduled time.
Rest is not the act of doing nothing. This is probably the biggest epiphany that has hit me lately. I usually think that "rest" means "stop working." It makes sense that I would think that, because in the Old Testament the Israelites were told, "the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. On it you shall not do any work..." (Exodus 20:10, NIV). God also said "the land itself must observe a Sabbath to Yahweh...But in the seventh year the land is to have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath to the LORD. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards..." (Leviticus 25:2,4).
But I think the real meaning of rest comes a little later in the chapter, when God gives his people what I call the Ultimate Sabbath, or the Year of Jubilee. In verse 8 he says, ‘Count off seven sabbaths of years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbaths of years amount to a period of forty-nine years." These essentialy are the "working years." But the year after that, the fiftieth year, is the Ultimate Sabbath. This is the year that everyone who has been traveling goes home. Everyone who has debt gets it squared away. (See the whole of Leviticus 25). This is the year the Occupiers have been waiting for: when everything goes back to the way it should be. It's shalom, the way things are supposed to be.
Rest is short for "restoration." Rest means the state of things returns to where it should be. That's why "restoration" can't be accomplished with a short nap or a cup of tea; it's much bigger!
If you've followed me this far, you probably know where I'm going next. To find rest (i.e. to restore myself), I must take a Sabbath (or even live in a constant state of Sabbath); and by that, I do not mean "relax" or "do nothing" or "sleep" or even "pray." "Rest" for the Israelites meant not doing work. "Rest" for the land meant not planting or harvesting it. "Rest" for the whole community, Jubilee, meant not holding on to property and money and servants. Rest is abandonment; abandoning the land to God's care.
So that's me, learning how to abandon myself to God's care. I must shed every idea of capability and goodness I have and just run to God without pretense. That's how I find rest.
To be continued.
Rest, Part 3
I said in another post that I didn't really understand what rest was, other than something God offers to those who are weary. I said I've tried to find rest through things like naps, conversations with friends, cups of hot tea, and other relaxing things. But I found these were just fillers for something that was missing. Relaxation is different from rest. Here are some ideas about the non-meaning of rest:
I'm not saying that I shouldn't watch TV shows or play computer games, or that I shouldn't do these things when I feel stressed. I'm saying these are temporary solutions, giving my brain a short break until an hour later when the same frustrations are in front of me and I have the added guilt of one hour less in which to deal with them.
Rest is not sleep. Feeling overwhelmed means I feel like I don't have the strength to do everything I need to do. That means I naturally feel tired when I feel overwhelmed. So I naturally conclude, "I can't get anything done if I'm sleepy" and I take a nap. During depression, these naps sometimes went up to four hours long - and that with sleeping in and going to bed early! Now my naps are more manageable, but I still take them for the wrong reasons.
I'm not saying that if I'm tired I shouldn't take a nap. I'm saying that genuine fatigue is different from the feeling of being overwhelmed. If I try to use sleep to cure my overwhelmation, then I'm using a physical band-aid to cure a spiritual problem. Don't get me wrong, lack of sleep and other physical factors can affect my mental state. But there comes a point where my naps are a form of escapism.
Rest is not devotions. In my search for what rest was, I started spending more time in prayer, in the Word, and keeping up with my Bible study. I found comfort and joy when I spent my time this way, but in itself, this time spent did not fill my need for rest. I know this because, despite my prayers for peace, I still struggled with overwhelmation almost daily.
I'm not saying that I shouldn't do devotions; I said in my last post that we talk with God individually in order to connect with him on a personal level. But I know my devotional time can feel stilted and programmed. If my devotional time is the extent of my relationship with Jesus, then I will not find rest in that scheduled time.
Rest is not the act of doing nothing. This is probably the biggest epiphany that has hit me lately. I usually think that "rest" means "stop working." It makes sense that I would think that, because in the Old Testament the Israelites were told, "the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. On it you shall not do any work..." (Exodus 20:10, NIV). God also said "the land itself must observe a Sabbath to Yahweh...But in the seventh year the land is to have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath to the LORD. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards..." (Leviticus 25:2,4).
But I think the real meaning of rest comes a little later in the chapter, when God gives his people what I call the Ultimate Sabbath, or the Year of Jubilee. In verse 8 he says, ‘Count off seven sabbaths of years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbaths of years amount to a period of forty-nine years." These essentialy are the "working years." But the year after that, the fiftieth year, is the Ultimate Sabbath. This is the year that everyone who has been traveling goes home. Everyone who has debt gets it squared away. (See the whole of Leviticus 25). This is the year the Occupiers have been waiting for: when everything goes back to the way it should be. It's shalom, the way things are supposed to be.
Rest is short for "restoration." Rest means the state of things returns to where it should be. That's why "restoration" can't be accomplished with a short nap or a cup of tea; it's much bigger!
If you've followed me this far, you probably know where I'm going next. To find rest (i.e. to restore myself), I must take a Sabbath (or even live in a constant state of Sabbath); and by that, I do not mean "relax" or "do nothing" or "sleep" or even "pray." "Rest" for the Israelites meant not doing work. "Rest" for the land meant not planting or harvesting it. "Rest" for the whole community, Jubilee, meant not holding on to property and money and servants. Rest is abandonment; abandoning the land to God's care.
So that's me, learning how to abandon myself to God's care. I must shed every idea of capability and goodness I have and just run to God without pretense. That's how I find rest.
To be continued.
right on.
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