Too Busy to Rest

How many of us are running ragged, constantly tired, carrying too much, endlessly playing catch-up, drinking too much coffee to stay focussed? How many of us dream of getting some rest, but are just too busy to stop? Well, you’re not alone.

The bible is pretty clear about the subject of rest. Not only is the Sabbath one of the Ten Commandments, but there are a lot of verses that talk about rest for God’s people. The problem is that knowing this just makes us feel more guilty for not resting, and then we can begin to justify why we don’t rest. Maybe we figure what we are doing is just too important. We can’t stop, because if we do, things will fall apart.

Last year, Cath and I were deeply impacted about Sabbath while in Israel. Someone led a Shabbat meal and shared how Sabbath was a beautiful gift from the Lord. It was an invitation to lay everything down and rest, and trust God saying to us, “I’ve got it”. Well, that put a different perspective on it! Now, taking a day to rest is something we look forward to all week. It has been revolutionary for us. But we are still learning. There are times when we still justify checking emails or messages because ‘something really important’ is happening.

Then, recently, I was struck by today’s verse. Jesus had died on the cross and had been taken to a tomb and laid there. The group of women who followed Jesus saw where He was laid and promptly went home to prepare ointments and spices to dress Jesus’ body. Honestly, it’s hard for me to think of anything more important. Surely, it would have been good to keep going during the Sabbath.

But no. These women, whose hearts were yearning to honour Jesus, stopped and rested. They allowed God to be first and for Him to work while they rested. In fact, it turns out that the ointments and spices weren’t even needed, because Jesus was risen by the time they eventually returned to the tomb.

It makes me think of all the times I have justified working when I really should have been resting. I paid the price, of course, by being more tired. But even that can become a kind of weird badge of honour among Christians. Lord, help us!

I felt the Lord encourage me so much with this. His promise to us is that, when we take Sabbath rest, He will take care of everything else. It is His gift to us. No more excuses about how important this thing or that thing is. Just simple rest. He continues to invite us to rest. Will we accept?