Lives marked by rest. This is what the Holy Spirit has been sharing with me. How can this even be possible in our culture? We have this idol we worship called “Urgency”. We get a text message or a push notice or an email comes through, and we  have accepted a lifestyle where there are no boundaries, no healthy working hours, no free down time, no 100% available to my family time, no quiet time with Jesus time. We live in a culture where everything can happen faster, but nobody has any time for anything. WHAT IS GOING ON?

And the Holy Spirit presses, lives marked by rest. What is rest? Isn’t resting lazy? Where is the the balance?

As I am asking, He has really been showing me some awesome stuff (and I know I am only just stepping into this revelation)!

Rest is a lifestyle. Rest is possible when we trust. When we trust in the work of our hands to provide for our needs, we cannot spare a moment to rest. When we trust in Jehovah Jireh, my provider, there is  room for God to show up and show off. When what I believe is , I have to work hard for everything that comes my way, it is still a slave mentality. Under grace,  I work as a servant and receive blessings as a child of God. For if I only get what I deserve, what is obligated as my wages, I would be broke, dead. But in Christ, I’m walking into blessings and favor and opportunity. I do not need more than what He has for me, which is why I can rest, because I am learning to trust.

I do not need more stuff. I do not need anything right now that I don’t have. I do not have any real needs that aren’t being met. The only thing I need is more of Him. I need deeper revelation of His ways, His Kingdom. I need more time in His Presence. I need to be full so I can empty out love to be filled again. The revelation of what I “need” changes more every time I choose to enter into rest.

Rest becomes a lifestyle as I recognize the reason I work is not for gain, but to serve, to love. I do not work because I have needs that aren’t being met. I work because I am called to love those individuals and I have a gift to impart to them, and most often they turn right around and impart a gift to me. I work because I have been given giftings and talents from God and find fulfillment and blessings when I operate out of what He has given me. I work with excellence because the One I am representing, the One who sent me, deserves to be honored. I work because it is a Joy to bring glory to my Father. I do not work for wages, I work to bless, to give. But Jesus always provides, not my work, not my labor.

The other part of rest I am learning about is, although I come from a place of rest everyday, there is also a place for a day of rest. A day where the only thing to “accomplish” is to rest, restore, remember. A day set apart for FUN. A day when all of the hats I wear, all the the things I do, all of the work I have been trusted with, rest also. On this particular day a boundary for me is no cell phone, no making appointments, no receiving or handling emails or texts. It is a day where with my family, and with my Lord I want to be fully available. There is so much rest that comes from not being pulled in many directions at once.

I’m finding that the other six days a week are less stressful, less overwhelming, less monotonous. There is more sense of purpose, fulfillment, excitement, and joy when you know there will be a break, a real break at the end of a full week. Also, I’m experiencing how important it is to not let life continuously hit you at the speed of light. There are so many things that happen in the course of a week and a Sabbath allows for time to process and deal with what flew at you, instead of carrying it into the next week, month, year, years, life. How incredible is our God to know how important rest would be for us, that in His infinite wisdom He chose to first model it for us Himself! He is soooo AWESOME!

As I previously mentioned, I am just beginning to learn about a lifestyle of rest. Rest begins in perspective, choosing to see, trust, and believe that God is providing, not my work. And rest additionally comes in the form of a day completely set aside from the normal pace and rhythm of busy. He says, “I want my children’s lives to be marked by rest.”