Rest

Rest isn't optional. In creation, God sets the tone for rest when He rests on the seventh day after creating all things and calling them very good. However, I find that rest is looking different for me these days. Having a toddler, my rest has had to become much more intentional.

This is my first vacation with an almost two-year-old. She goes hard! What used to be sitting, reading, and floating at the beach has now went the opposite direction. Now I play what I like to call "make sure my kid doesn't die". It's an intense game with high stakes. My daughter loves the beach and she charges into the ocean like she owns it. It is the opposite of restful.

After her time at the beach, she is hangry. She's burned a ton of calories and wants food now. She hates rinsing the sand off and can't understand why she isn't already inside eating. Then comes that magical time that can only be considered a gift from God: nap time. After that, we go hard again until bed time.

Given the new stage of my life, I've realized that resting on vacation has to be very intentional. Nap time and bed time are beautiful times of the day because that's where the rest happens. That's where we recharge so we can go hard again. These times are crucial, but we all need these crucial rest times in our lives.

God didn't need to rest after creating. He doesn't get tired. He knew however, that we do. He gave us an example so that we could recharge and keep going hard for His purposes. However, we often forget just how badly we need rest. 

We call Sunday the Lord's Day. We gather as the church and rest in God declaring His praises and His glory. What we don't often do though is intentionally rest physically. How different would our weeks be if we intentionally took our Sundays to slow down, worship God corporately and privately, and rest in physically in Him? After we recharge, we go hard again the next week.

God knew we needed rest. He knew we'd work better and reflect His glory more if we were people who rested and recharged. Vacations remind us we need rest. How life changing could it be if we rested once a week instead of once a year?