In His Image: Created to Rest

I’m a teacher and I work with several wonderful women, but given the nature of the job — the constant busyness of educating young people — it’s hard to get to know any of my coworkers well during the normal school day. Each of us are continually serving or preparing to serve our students. Each minute is given to the work at hand. There is little time for rest between 7:45 and 3:45, Monday through Friday, so it wasn’t until a handful of us decided to start a book club that we began to become more than just co-workers. When we deliberately chose to set aside time to rest, relax, and enjoy one-another’s company we became friends.

Created to Rest

This month on the Do Not Depart blog we are looking at how we, mankind, are created in the image of God. We are created to reflect His image in many ways, including (but not limited to) how we speak, love, are creative, and seek justice. We are also created to complete good works— just like He does. But along with this work, we are created to rest.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. ~ Genesis 2:1-3

Jesus Shows Us How to Rest

God worked, created, and gave life to the whole world in six days. On the seventh He rested. Genesis is not the only place we can see that God rests and has created us to rest as well. We can also look at Jesus, because if we see Jesus we also see the Father.

“I and the Father are one” ~ John 10:30

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ~ John 14:9

Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness fasting and praying. In other words, for 40 days He rested in the company and provision of His Father. This rest gave Jesus the strength to resist the devil’s temptation (Matthew 4:1-11). It also prepared Him to begin His earthly ministry (vv 12-17).

There are other accounts throughout the Gospels in which Jesus frequently sought time for both physical and spiritual rest. He made rest a priority. For example, He slept when the storms raged around Him at sea (Matthew 8:23-27). He sought solitude to pray and rest even when multitudes wanted to hear Him preach (Matthew 14:23). He rested in fellowship and communion with His friends and disciples (Matthew 26:19-30). When faced with great suffering, He prioritized prayer and resting in the will of His Father (Matthew 26: 36-46).

Jesus had a mission to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). This good work took great effort, but He did not neglect rest in the process.  We should not either.

We Need Rest

The Hebrew word for rest, which appears in Genesis 2:2, is shabath and it means to cease, desist, or rest from labor. Shabath appears again in the passage describing the Sabbath Law.

It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed. ~ Exodus 31:17

Here the word rested is used with the word refreshed. Rest and refreshment go together. We need rest, but not for the sake of simply obeying the law. We need rest to be refreshed — to be given new strength and energy, to be reinvigorated.

How does rest refresh us? Rest only truly refreshes us, body and soul, when we spend time with Jesus — just being with and enjoying Him, worshipping Him, and getting to know Him.

This sounds wonderful, right? But how do we rest?

How to Rest

The struggle to rest is real. It takes a conscious effort to break the habit of busyness. As we begin to break this habit and form new habits of rest, we need to remember we are no longer under the law. We do not rest in order to fulfill religious obligations or to make God happy. We rest because we are created to do so. So as you struggle to rest, give yourself grace just as Jesus does.

Here are some practical ways to literally rest:

• Enjoy an actual lunch break (not a working lunch)
• Go for a walk
• Read your bible
• Sing worship songs
• Memorize scripture
• Spend time in prayer and meditation
• Keep a journal

We have many ways to rest. Let the purpose of our rest be this: to be refreshed in Christ.

Rest is Not a Waste

Many of us, myself included, often look at rest as a waste of time. When our to-do lists seem to be ever growing, we often rationalize skipping rest. We tell ourselves, “when items X, Y, and Z are done, then I can take a break.”

But let me ask you this: what happens when our work leaves us beyond exhausted? What, or rather who, suffers? The people around us suffer. Our relationships get neglected and those we claim to love may not actually be receiving our love.

I mentioned at the beginning of this post that my co-workers and I started to become friends when we intentionally made time for one another — when we rested together. The same is true for our relationship with God. As we spend time resting with and in Him we will become more familiar with who He is and His love for us. 

Rest is something we are created for. Let’s not neglect it.

Lord in heaven, thank you for creating us to rest. Thank you for the example of rest that you have provided for us in your son Jesus. Just as He prioritized rest, please teach us to do the same. Give us the desire to spend time resting with you and with others. Help us to trust that the time will be well spent and that it will provide the refreshment we need to accomplish the good work you have tasked us to do. In the name of your Son I pray. Amen.