Ten Days of Blessings — Blessing 10: Get some rest.

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Ever feel bone-tired, bushed, done in, played out, spent, tuckered, or weary? Me, too. As Jesus was experiencing life as a human being, He felt tired, too, and He noticed the weariness of others. He told His disciples:

“Come away by yourselves to a secluded place
and rest a while.”
(For there were many people
coming and going,
and they did not even have time to eat.)
Mark 6:31

It’s okay if you do that, too.

 

Notice again what was happening when Jesus spoke those words to His disciples: folks were coming and going and they didn’t even have time to eat. Folks coming and going at your house? Are you driving those comings and goings and organizing them and getting children ready for them and trying to fit in meals — and laundry and lessons and the rest of your long list — for everybody at the same time?

It’s really okay to get some rest. God really didn’t create you to work all the time.

Rest begins with God. He is the first “Rester” in the history of the world.

By the seventh day God completed
His work which He had done,
and He rested on the seventh day
from all His work which He had done.
Then God blessed the seventh day
and sanctified it,
because in it He rested from all His work
which God had created and made.
Genesis 2:2-3

Our bodies need rest. So do our spirits. Psalm 37 tells us the best place to do that:

Rest in the Lord
and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him
who prospers in his way,
Because of the man
who carries out wicked schemes.
Psalm 37:7

One of the sweetest moments in a mama’s life is when her child relaxes completely on her shoulder. I recently shared Psalm 131:2. This time let’s imagine ourselves resting on God in the way described in this verse:

Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
Psalm 131:2

Minister Cleland Boyd McAfee wrote a beautiful hymn that reminds us to rest:

Near to the Heart of God

Verse 1
There is a place of quiet rest,
Near to the heart of God,
A place where sin cannot molest,
Near to the heart of God.

Refrain
O Jesus, blest Redeemer,
Sent from the heart of God,
Hold us, who wait before thee,
Near to the heart of God.

Part of resting near to the heart of God is trusting Him to take care of you and your family, trusting Him so completely that you lay aside your to-do list and go to bed. When the Israelites traveled from Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan, God fed them with manna. He told them not to gather any manna on the seventh day. I believe He wanted them to experience His loving care and learn to trust Him. They would not starve. They could take a day off and trust God to take care of them. We, too, can trust Him enough to lay aside our work and rest at night and at other times, too.

Your homeschooling will go better if you go to bed early enough to get good rest and if you leave today’s worries in God’s hands. Don’t try to live yesterday, today, and tomorrow at the same time. Get up tomorrow and live that day.

The following words of Jesus are some of His most precious to me. We can trust Him. He won’t let us down.

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden,
and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
Matthew 11:28-29

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