“Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him” (Psalm 62:5 NIV84).
When I was younger I tended to rest when I was exhausted to the point of illness. I worked until I couldn’t work any longer. Then, I rested because I had to. Many times it seemed that God forced me to rest by allowing my body or circumstances to fail me, so that rest was the only thing left to me.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned a better rhythm. Rest should precede work.
This is the pattern that God intended for us, that our work should come out of having found rest in Him. But if we’re not intentional about following this rhythm, the busyness of life will move us to action before we’ve found our rest in the Lord.
We have to be deliberate about choosing to work out of rest. We have to make it a priority to live this new way.
My friend, Pastor Wayne Cordeiro, says “Schedule in your rest points first before your schedule fills up. God intended activity to come out of rest. Rest needs to come first.”
This week, I’m spending time with my kids and grandkids in a big rental house in the Outer Banks. We scheduled this trip in January. The bigger our family gets the more complicated it is to find time on the calendar to be together. We have to really make it a priority. So, we are learning to schedule our “rest points” way out in advance.
When we work out of rest, we draw on the spiritual reservoir that Christ provides. Following God’s rhythm we find joy and strength in our work, as we work according to His power.
I’m resting this week, so I can hit the ground running next week!