Resting Well – Day 1

I can’t remember the last time I talked with someone who considered themselves well rested. Most of my interactions are with people at the precipice of exhaustion. Some of us have not had enough sleep for close to a decade. We are guilty of jam-packing twenty-nine hours’ worth of vigor into the set twenty-four day. Insufficient sleep has become so problematic the Center for Disease Control has deemed it a “public health epidemic.”

Among other issues, fatigue is known to cause thousands of traffic accidents per year. It slows our cognitive processing, and is related to serious health problems such as heart failure, diabetes, and strokes. But the reality that it impairs our judgment about our need for rest, I found must fascinating! Somehow we think we are above slowing down. No. Those other poor souls can’t hack it. Just give us a power nap or hand us an espresso and we will keep going.

But the truth is, we deceive ourselves.

Even the Son of Man got tired. At one time, Jesus and the disciples boarded a boat, and a great storm swells. But Jesus is unmoved by the hurricane-force wind and the ferocious waves because he is sound asleep below.

And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. Matthew 8:23-24

This is not a cruise ship nor is it a few clouds. These were fishermen who believed they were about to die. The God-man was exhausted.

Another time He and disciples are traveling by foot when they arrive at Sychar in Samaria (John 4:6). Jesus is physically tired from the journey and needed to stop and rest, just like you and me.

Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. (NLT)

You see, God created humanity to require rest. “Six days you shall labor,” (Exodus 23:12), “but on the seventh, you shall rest.” Contrary to my backward and twisted thinking, resting is not a sign of personal weakness. It’s not punishment for not being able to do it all myself. It is simply God’s good intent toward us.

He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. Psalm 23:2

God knows our tendency toward exhaustion: physically, emotionally and often spiritually. But do not think for a minute resting well is not a call to lazy couch potato living. On the contrary. There are six days of work set aside for work which means the expectation is that we be productive most of the time. But there is also a high price to pay for NOT resting. You and I need to find the Biblical balance.

Over the next several days, we will discover what the Bible says about rest, what is the cost of not resting, and strategies you and I can implement into our daily routines for resting well in Christ.

Don’t forget to listen to the Podcast, Does God Care if I’m Tired? Just click on the title!

Thanks for coming along!