Rest
There is a slight dusting of snow on the ground this morning in Western NC, one of the many signs that winter is still lingering. This morning I want to write about rest. I was thinking about this topic last night as I continued my reading through Exodus Chapters 19-21.
In Chapter 20 God lays out the ten commandments to Moses. One of which being observing the Sabbath as a day of rest. Exodus Ch. 20: 9-10, “You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God…”. In verse 11, He goes on to say “For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as Holy.”
Today it seems like we are running at a break-neck pace from one task to the next. We measure our worth in how much we can get done, and taking time to rest is often viewed as negative or weak. But, we are not robots. As a working, mom of two I have fallen victim to the mindset that I must be superwoman. I must do everything and be everything to everyone. If I could just plan every minute of my day to be doing something then everything would be perfect, but I had to fill every slot on my calendar or else things would fall behind. I wouldn’t be the perfect mom, wife, employee, woman… the list goes on. Friends, that mindset is exhausting. We all deserve rest. One of my favorite sayings is, “We are human beings, not human doings.” Sure, we all have things that have to get done, but why are we putting so much pressure on ourselves? Even God mandated in the Old Covenant that we rest to honor Him, for He rested after He created everything.
Another passage from Exodus that really stuck with me is regarding Moses’ work of resolving disputes between the people of Israel (Exodus Chapter 18). When Moses’ father-in-law visits, he see all that Moses is doing for the people. After observing and questioning what Moses is doing he says, “This is not good!” You’re going to wear yourself out - and the people, too. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself.” (Verses 17-18). He goes on to advise Moses on how to lighten his load by selecting other leaders in the tribe to assist with cases.
I believe that we all have taken on jobs, tasks, and roles that are too heavy a burden for us to carry ourselves. Maybe part of the lesson is we need to rely on each other. There will be seasons in our life where we need to remember this more than ever. Seasons where we need to share our load with the people God has placed in our life for that very purpose, and seasons where we can help someone else carry their load. We are not robots, and as winter still lingers here in Western NC, we need to consider what season we are in spiritually. Maybe this is a season to unload some of your burdens, shake off those unrealistic expectations, and turn to the One who never asked us to be all those things to begin with. Whatever season you are in my friends, I hope you take time to rest.
Thank you for reading.
-A
