“This the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.  And on the seventh day God finished His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done.  So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all His work that He had done in creation.”  Gen 2:1-3 ESV

God Rested

 “I spy something pink”, I stated.  “Pink flowers”, she answered with delight.  With the temperatures still nipping frostily at our noses, the blossoms offered a pleasant surprise of added color against a backdrop of otherwise naked branches.  Taking note of the discrepancy she remarked, “those other ones are resting”.  In that moment, God whispered quietly to my soul “everything needs rest” interrupting the running list of want to and have to inundating my mind.  On day seven, God rested.   As I considered the whispering in my soul, I considered what God might be saying through this part of the creation story so let’s explore this further.

God created it

God built rest into the nature of all His creations.  Bears hibernate, caterpillars cocoon and trees stand bare during the winter.  Rest prepares us for the next season and allows us to recover from the past one.  Yet, I have ignored this vital part of our existence by tapping into my innate desire to be superhuman, a supermommy able to cook a meal, do laundry, teach children, wash dishes, sweep the floor, plan the next playdate, schedule carpool and extracurricular activities while jumping over toys and pets all while children demand our attention with an urgency not be denied.  Despite our desire or perceived necessity to be superhuman, we are still human, humans created by God like all His creations to rest.  Rest is for our benefit.  Just as bears hibernate and leaves fall to survive the harsh conditions of the current season sometimes God needs us to rest to allow Him to protect us in our current situations.  We can burn ourselves out trying to do so much in one season leaving us ill prepared the next.  Restoration does not come without rest and without restoration we cannot reserve energy for the next task, the next season, the next phase.  Rest is imperative to fulfill our mission as fruitful moms. 

God set the example

We explored in God created, God’s guidance for parents.  In this portion of the creation story, God offers another lesson on parenting.  We must lead by example.  On the 7th day, He rested.  He who is not human did something unnecessary for Him to set the example of how we are to govern our lives.  This was a do as I do moment in time and by doing so He gives permission to do the same.  Rest is defined as ceasing work or movement, to relax.  Notice there is no mention of sleeping.  These are not the same thing.  Rest is restorative mentally not just physically.  When we rest, we too lead by example and show our children the importance of doing so.  

God commands it

He completed His work and then rested on the seventh day.  That’s the trap we fall into. Consider this, He was not done with everything on His to do list either otherwise the bible would have ended with the creation story!  The list is never done so we feel we can never really rest yet He commanded us to do so.  Even when we sit for a moment or attempt to sleep, we run the brewing list in our minds.  Much like our children who fight bedtime He commanded us to rest because He knows it is good for us.  “Labor six days and do all your work but on the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God” Ex 20:9-10.  The work may not be completed but a stopping point always exists.  Cleaning the house can mean cleaning one room or part of a room each day instead of completing all of the cleaning in one fail swoop.  Rest can include not having every minute of the day filled with something or not having an activity away from the home at least one night a week or one part of the year because there is a season for everything. 

In the next portion, we will discuss the gift of rest.

Sow the seed:  There is no restoration without rest so get some rest because you are made for it!

Nurture the seed:  “And on the seventh day God finished His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done.”  Gen 2:2