by Elizabeth | Sep 29, 2020 | Devotional
The Rest of Restoration: A Meditation for Crisis
Dear Friends, this week I share another excerpt from my newest devotional for people who have experienced “crisis” —”radically life-altering circumstances.” If you enjoy this, please be sure to share and check out the entire devotional, From Recovery to Restoration: 60 Meditations for Finding Peace & Hope in Crisis. It was written for times such as these.
The Rest of Restoration
And on the seventh day God finished
all the work that he had done, and
he rested on the seventh day from
all his work that he had done.
GENESIS 2:2, ESV
THE FIRST TIME I recovered from shoulder surgery, I was blindsided by the fatigue. My limbs hung limp, heavy and sluggish; my nerves were frenzied by pain. Restful sleep eluded me. Meanwhile, the items on my to-do list stacked up in direct proportion to my incapacitation. Recovery fatigue set in; what I desperately needed was rest.
On the seventh day of creation, after God had placed the finishing touches on his masterpiece — his image-bearers, he rested (Genesis 2:2). God rested because his work, his plan, his purpose, was fully accomplished. The Lord rested as only the ruler of the cosmos can rest.
The Lord designed his image-bearers for rest and called them to receive this gift: “Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work…” (Deuteronomy 5:12-14). The Lord knew that we needed rest; the Lord knew that to experience this rest, we would need to trust him completely.
What are you to do, though, when the housework piles up but you can’t lift your arm after shoulder surgery? When soggy carpets need to be stripped before mold sets in after the flood? When sleep won’t come because you’re worried about the child support check? Surely you can’t just do nothing?
God set a Sabbath rhythm: to work and to rest, to work and to rest. We may not be able to do the housework, but we can ask for help from others, and we can rest in receiving. We can strip the carpets, but then we must rest from that work. And as far as the child support check, there is a time to pursue and a time to pray, there is a time to trust, and a time to wait on God’s provision.
In addition to physical, mental, and emotional rest, we desperately need the rest of restoration provided by Jesus. As Richard D. Phillips explains, “If you have put your faith in this saving God, if you have trusted his gospel in Jesus Christ, you now can rest…. You can face the prospect of loss in this life, of suffering, and even of death, for ours is the God of the Sabbath, who established his purposes forever from the beginning. Through faith in him you enter into his rest.”24
Dear friend, in this season of weight and weariness, hear the call of the One who has bought with his life the rest you crave.Come to Jesus, who invites you to the rest of restoration.
PRAYER
Father, God,
Thank you for your Sabbath rest, and thank you for the ultimate rest granted in Jesus. Help us to come to you for every kind of rest we need in our recovery.
AMEN.
FURTHER ENCOURAGEMENT
• Read Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 20:8-11; Hebrews 4:9-10.
• Listen to “Good to Me” by Audrey Assad.
FOR REFLECTION
In what ways are you struggling with the need for rest or the inability to rest? Write a short letter to God about what things you need to entrust to him so you can gain needed rest.
by Elizabeth | Aug 22, 2016 | Gospel living, Parenting
3 More Ways for Weary Moms to Rest
To weary moms, continued…
Last week, I posted the first part of a letter I wrote to any moms wearied by the work of raising children. Today, enjoy part 2!
Dear weary mom, you have permission, in Christ, to stop…
-
trying to be supermom. God designed us to be interdependent with others. Accept help and ask for it.
Are you trying to nurse a baby, help a first grader with homework, and cook dinner while your husband is sitting on the couch checking email? Ask him for help. It is true — he’s had a long day at work, but you’ve had a long day at work too. These days won’t be this busy FOREVER!! He won’t regret his involvement, and you won’t either.
Your next-door-neighbor loves to stay and watch mini-mite football practice. You have two other drop-offs to make. Why not ask him if he minds driving your son too?
God provides us with rest in the most practical of ways — we are members of a body with different gifts and in different seasons.
-
saying “yes.” Practice one eloquent way to say “no” to the zillions of requests sent your way:
Someone else will be room mom (or dad), or maybe no one else will step up. The teacher does need help, but you’re caring for your aging grandmother — can you really do both without exhausting yourself?
It will require making some people unhappy (see number 1) and trusting that God will provide a way (Isaiah 43:19), but it will allow you the rest you were made for.
- Other things you may pronounce a guilt-free “no” to:
sending homemade cupcakes to school for your child’s birthday,
- buying your 16-year-old a new car,
- and taking responsibility for your child’s failure or sin.
-
saying “no.” Say yes to more play and rest.
Let’s be honest — it can become a habit, right?
“No, you can’t come in past curfew.”
“No, you can’t eat dessert before dinner.”
“No, you can’t watch Leave it to Beaver before you do your homework (TVLand, anyone:-)?).”
(And yes, when I was a child, I watched Leave it to Beaver every day before I did my homework:-)! (While eating Chips Ahoy cookies and drinking full-tilt Coke!)
Say yes to rest by saying no to one of the 40 volleyball/soccer games your two combined children will compete in. If you’re an introvert, stay home and lie on the couch with a good book; if you’re an extrovert, don a lime green feather boa and go to Chile’s with ten of your closest friends.
Tell the kids to skip the room cleanup and go out for ice cream. Let them take a sick day – adults get them – why shouldn’t they (I know – because they get school holidays:-) – but still!)? Tell them they can’t dump a bucket of ice on you for a good cause, but you will help them have a bake sale to raise money.
Rest, weary mom, because God created rest and Jesus gives rest.
“ And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.” Gen. 2:2
Come to him, you weary and heavy-laden mom, and rest, for truly his yoke is easy and his burden is light.
by Elizabeth | Sep 1, 2014 | Learning Story
“Come to me, all you 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 lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
Every year, I have to look up the meaning of Labor Day — it turns out it’s a day set aside as a tribute to American workers and the work they/we do.
Long before the America government decided to set aside a day of rest, Jesus beckoned his people to come to him and receive rest. Today is a good day to re-think this call.
The first part of the verse is straightforward, but I get hung up on the yoke. A yoke is literally a bar or frame used to join two animals to pull a load. In the Bible, the imagery implies subjection (that’s not a bad thing!) and joining. As followers of Christ, we are yoked to him. As kingdom servants, we join Christ and serve his kingdom.
According to Matthew 11:28-30, Christ’s yoke is easy and his burden is light. If this is true, why do so many of us experience our lives as a burden of burnout?
Maybe it’s because we too often take on the yokes of other demi-gods who promise us great reward for pleasing them.
Ephesians 6 tells us to put on armor because our battle is not against flesh and blood. In other words, we are constantly in a war for our hearts. Satan, the accuser, lays all sorts of heavy loads on us, some subtle, some blatantly cruel. And we bow before them. Before we know it, we look and sound like a mean old octogenarian stooped over with osteoporosis, crabby-faced and claw-tongued, aching under the heavy yoke we wear.
But Jesus has offered us rest. Let’s listen to his invitation:
- Oh dear sinner saint – are you a slave to the law? Are you trying to perform well enough to please the Lord who already delights in you? Hear the lesson of rest Jesus wants you to learn:
“Let me put this question to you? How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God’s Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren’t smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it?” (Galatians 3:2-4, The Message).
Jesus beckons, “Yank off that yoke of the law, and join with me in free praise and glory to the King.”
- Oh dear sinner saint – are you a slave to Satan’s accusations? Do you hear his angry voice condemning you over every failure, small and large, sinful and mistaken, as you walk through your day? Hear the lesson Jesus wants you to learn,
“So sing, Daughter Zion!/ Raise the rafters, Israel!/Daughter Jerusalem, /be happy! celebrate!/God has reversed his judgments against you/ and sent your enemies off chasing their tails./From now on, God is Israel’s king,/ in charge at the center./There’s nothing to fear from evil ever again!” (Zephaniah 3:14-15, The Message)
Jesus beckons, “Yank off that yoke of Satan, and hear me singing over you.”
- Oh dear sinner saint – are you a slave to the cycle of addiction? You say you will not work 14 hours today and miss another volleyball game, you say you will not have that ‘one more glass of wine, just so I can relax’, you say you will follow the doctor’s orders and walk for 20 minutes today. And then you do it again. Hear the lesson of rest Jesus wants you to learn:
“I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.” (Romans 7:24-25, The Message)
Jesus beckons, “Yank off that yoke of the flesh, and receive my grace to help in time of need.”
Today, this Labor Day, let’s hear Jesus’ free offer of rest and take on this yoke. When we do, we will laugh in wonder, thinking “this can’t be a yoke, it’s way too easy.” Light and free, our bodies straighten and our chins rise; we run, we sing, we dance, free to live as God created us to live. We go forth in service and subjection, plowing Kingdom ground for his honor and glory, discovering that this work provides rest for our souls.
Join the discussion — what “Dear Sinner Saint messages do you think it is important to hear in order to rest?”
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by Elizabeth | Jan 27, 2014 | Learning Story
Today, as I conclude this short series on spiritual graces, I invite you to sit with me and hear God’s invitation to delight: rest.
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Rest for some is playing with God in the sand.
It sounds so kind, so gentle, so — well, restful.
Come to me…
all who labor
and are heavy-laden…
[are you identifying with this yet?]
and I will give you rest.
- It is a lullaby sung over a child in warm footie pajamas.
- It is a friend waving to us from across the street, inviting us to come have coffee.
- It is a gold-embossed invitation from the prince to the coronation ball.
Jesus, the lover of our souls, beckons us, and what I’m wondering is why, with an invitation like this — we resist rest.
Rest, menuach, according to the Hebrew, expresses more than just an absence of activity. Its purpose is to celebrate life and joy, to languish in the peace God lavishes, to imagine the days to come when there will be no more tears.
For Christians, it is a rich feast to remember that Christ has loved us and offered the perfect sacrifice that allows us to cease striving and know that all is well. It is a taste of the feast to come, when we will gather around a table in peace with those we’ve loved and hated in life, finally reconciled, finally restored.
So why don’t we rest? So many reasons, but today let’s just consider one:
Rosie-dog dares to risk rest — with frequency:-)!
It’s too risky.
- What if we lie down but can’t go to sleep?
- What if we dress up for the ball and the Prince ignores us?
- What if Jesus was waving to someone else?
He couldn’t have meant me. He couldn’t really mean I can stop laboring.
- I know I need to have better quiet times for God to want to spend time with me.
- If Jesus really knew who I am, he’d never ask me to the ball.
- And if I go for coffee, it will be tense because I’m so disappointed in God right now.
Isn’t it better to just keep moving, stirring the noise, in case there is no song to be heard in the silence of rest?
It’s risky. Really, who has that kind of gumption?
Not me.
But there’s some good news here. You knew there had to be, right?
Here’s a little interesting tidbit. The word in the Greek literally means to “cause to rest.” Jesus isn’t just offering us rest. He’s making us rest. Because he knows our hearts. He knows we struggle with sin, and fear, and shame, and pride. He knows we don’t think we deserve a break unless we’ve earned it. And he knows we’ll never earn it. That’s why he died. For our sin. So we could rest — from the guilt, the sin, the shame.
Stop. Do you hear him? He’s singing to you.
Come to me. All you who labor. [Do you labor?]
All who are heavy-laden [What burdens, doubts, fears, shame are you carrying?].
I have made it possible for you to rest.
I will bring you to the ball because you can’t bring yourself.
Now for the dare:
Step away from the computer. Go somewhere or stay right where you are. Do you hear the singing? Do you see the couple dancing? Will you go sit with Jesus? It’s terrifying, but it’s true. God delights in you, and Jesus is causing you to rest in that.
