BLESSED BY REST - PART 1
Key Scripture:
And there was evening and there was morning, the 1st day. ~ Genesis 1:5
Rest has always been difficult for me. I think I’ve traced it back to when my two best friends were killed in a head-on collision when I was 17. This event completely torqued something deep in my core. The frailty and uncertainty of life came crashing into my being and shook the very foundation of who I was. I started living my life with the motto of “Nobody promised you tomorrow… so cram as much LIFE into life as you can, TODAY!”
On the surface, this is absolutely true. But of course, the enemy takes a truth, twists it into a fear-filled lie, and beats us with it, (if we allow him to!) and at 17 this is exactly what happened with me. I became flooded with the fear that I would die before I finished doing everything I needed/wanted to do in this life. Coupled with the lie, “if you’re not busy all the time then you’re being lazy!” ... it started me running.
Fast.
And sadly, its taken me most of my life to learn to stop!
So, I’m gonna share about 3 kinds of rest, (and we desperately need all of them!) and a bit of what the Bible has to say about each type.
In this first part I’m going to talk about sleep, (which sadly doesn’t always mean rest, as we’ll touch on below,) as this is the most common thought about rest… “You just need more sleep!”
Years ago I collapsed on the trail while hiking and almost had to be carried home. I was incredibly dizzy, disoriented, literally couldn’t see straight... it was very frightening, to say the least! I went to the doctor and initially they thought I may have Multiple Sclerosis or some other auto-immune disease. But after several weeks of extensive tests they finally determined I was actually suffering from… chronic sleep deprivation.
At first I was in disbelief. Seriously?? With all the debilitating symptoms I was experiencing? All this was just a lack of sleep? I scoffed. I told the doctor I thought it was going to be something REALLY serious. This was ridiculous. She looked at me sternly and told me if I didn’t take significant measures to change my habits I could do grave damage to my body. Her prescription was for me to get 8-10 hours of sleep every single night for several years to start to undo some of the damage, and to read several articles and books on the seriousness of this condition. (I’m sure she knew getting this amount of sleep would be nearly impossible for me, so she set the bar high with the hopes of me at least getting more sleep than I had been!)
I left the doctor’s office thinking, “It would be easier to get adequate sleep if I DID have some horrible diagnosis! People understand if you have MS or cancer or something and HAVE to get more sleep, but nobody is going to believe this is just chronic sleep deprivation!” And I scoffed again.
Then I did some of the homework she gave me, and I was horrified. I’m not going to quote all the studies here, but I do strongly suggest you do some reading on your own. Here are a few links, just to give you *some* idea of how important sleep is:
Extent and Health Consequences of Chronic Sleep Loss and Sleep Disorders
The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Your Body
What to Know About Sleep Deprivation
Sleep is REALLY critical to your well being! So, it doesn’t really matter if people in your life think its important or not - you need to get adequate sleep.
Remember, self-care is NOT self-ish. *smile*
A few years ago when starting my annual “read through the Bible in a year” reading plan, I was re-reading the creation story in the book of Genesis and something very interesting struck me.
“And there was evening and there was morning, the 1st day.” (Genesis 1)
Wait… what? Why didn’t it say, “And there was morning and there was evening, the 1st day.” ?? Each of the days STARTS in the evening... when we are to rest! If you continue reading scripture, this is how all days were considered... for example, a sabbath starts at sundown on one night and ends at sundown on the next night. (Luke 23:54)
Some suggest that this is simply because first there was darkness and then there was light, (Genesis 1:1-4) but I think it goes deeper than this. Knowing that God’s nature is love, (1 John 4:8) I believe He wants us to START by resting and sleeping, (and being blessed by Him!) (Psalm 127:2) FIRST and THEN get up and start our day. Since resting and sleeping is imperative, He put it BEFORE starting the day’s work.
But, as I mentioned earlier, sleep does not always equal rest. If I go to bed thinking about employee issues, I have a night filled with dreams of doing performance evaluations and written warnings. (I’m sure you’ve had similar experiences.) And God forbid I go to bed right after watching re-runs of 24 or I end up running through the streets of LA with Jack Bauer trying to save the world from horrible terrorist attacks! Not restful at all! I wake up utterly exhausted! *laughing*
If, however, I read scripture just before bed, or write in my Gratitude Journal all the things I’m thankful for from my day, and spend a few moments in prayer with Him, thanking Him for His abundant blessings and giving Him my concerns, then my dreams are typically peaceful and my sleep is deep and restful. When I awaken, I say a prayer of thanks for another glorious day that He has blessed me with.
And the evening and the morning… another day.
In Him.
SCRIPTURES
Genesis 1:5 ~ And there was evening and there was morning, the 1st day. (ESV)
Luke 23:54 ~ It was a preparation day, and a Sabbath was about to begin. (NASB)
Genesis 1:1-4 ~ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. (KJV)
Psalm 127:2 ~ It is vain for you to rise early, to retire late, to eat the bread of anxious labors - for He gives [blessings] to His beloved even in his sleep.. (AMP)