There's a song that's inside of my soul.
It's the one that I've tried to write over and over again
I'm awake in the infinite cold.
But you sing to me over and over and over again.
So, I lay my head back down.
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope.
Sing to me the song of the stars.
Of your galaxy dancing and laughing and laughing again.
When it feels like my dreams are so far
Sing to me of the plans that you have for me over again.
So I lay my head back down.
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours
I know now, you're my only hope.
I give you my destiny.
I'm giving you all of me.
I want your symphony, singing in all that I am
At the top of my lungs, I'm giving it back.
So I lay my head back down.
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours
I pray, to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope.
_Mandy Moore, Only Hope
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Thursday, August 04, 2011
Rest
An short article that I recently wrote on "rest"
There has been a lot of talk about “rest” lately. We can all testify that we do not get enough of it. Life has a way of getting overwhelmingly busy. Rest does not come easy as it did when we were kids. “I’ll get rest when this project is completed.” “I’ll get rest when this midterm is over.” “I’ll get rest when my kids grow up and move out of the house!” We think this way more often than not, but when we look in God’s Word, we see that rest is not an option. Rest is commanded and even celebrated. The topic of rest brings us back to Genesis 1 of when God created the world.
Two things stand out to me as I read the creation account. First, the bible accounts that after God created each and every creation (light, land, sea, trees, etc), he would stop and see that it was good. “God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1). The bible specifically records God’s contemplation and meditation. It specifically records what he is taking in and dwelling upon—His own goodness.
The second thing that stands out to me as I read the creation account is that God ceased from creating on the seventh day and rested from all his accomplished work. “Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done” (Genesis 2:3). The first Sabbath was established. God actually created and intentionally honored a day of celebrated rest. So how was God resting? Was God tired?
When we hear the English verb “rest,” most of us immediately think of being tired or needing to recuperate drained energy, but the Hebrew translated “rest” in Genesis 2:2 of God resting from creating the world did not carry that idea. The definition given for the Hebrew word translated “rest” (shābat or shābath) in Genesis 2:2 is to “cease, desist.” God did not get tired, nor did He need a day to convalesce or build up His strength. He simply stopped creating the Universe.
When we look around our church and community, if we are honest, we sometimes think that people who are “busier” for God love God more. We tend to think that the person who is doing more must be pleasing God more. You know, it’s that man or woman who is always at church serving, volunteering and giving back, that man who is always going downtown and volunteering at the homeless shelter, the woman who is constantly opening up her home to needful strangers in hospitality. It’s THAT man who walks door to door to evangelize 7 days a week for 8 hours…for pete’s sake, he definitely loves Jesus the most!
While all these things are biblical and good in themselves, God strikes a balance. “Doing more” is not always pleasing to God. We see this principle in Luke 10: 38-42 as Mary sits at the feet of Jesus while Martha is distracted, stressed and busy with work and preparations needing to be made. Martha definitely thought Jesus would scold Mary for not helping her with the things needing to be done. Jesus responds differently than she expects.
Nowhere in the bible does God command us to live a life strained, burdened, restless, over-worked, sleepless...etc. Ministry may call us to be restless or tired for a season, but an essential lifestyle of restlessness is not pleasing to God AND is not biblical. In contrast, God commands us to rest. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 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…” (Exodus 20:8-10). We are no longer under the law, but God was establishing a principle here.
It is when we take the time to rest, and rest in the Lord, that our hearts are set again on Christ. It is when we take the time to cease from our doing that we are able to remind ourselves of who we are doing for and why we are doing. Isn’t it Christ himself? Yes. Isn’t it ironic that busyness, even busyness for God’s kingdom can cause us to forget God? In the busyness of our lives, we forget that one of God’s Ten Commandments was to rest.
May we follow God’s example as recorded in the creation account and see his goodness in all things. May we reflect on God’s creation all around us—family, friends, jobs, blessings, the air, the trees, the warm weather, life itself and stop to say, “Wow God, this is good! You are good!” May we take time to sit at the feet of Jesus in moments of cessation and follow God in example and commandment as we “bless and make holy” days of repose.
There has been a lot of talk about “rest” lately. We can all testify that we do not get enough of it. Life has a way of getting overwhelmingly busy. Rest does not come easy as it did when we were kids. “I’ll get rest when this project is completed.” “I’ll get rest when this midterm is over.” “I’ll get rest when my kids grow up and move out of the house!” We think this way more often than not, but when we look in God’s Word, we see that rest is not an option. Rest is commanded and even celebrated. The topic of rest brings us back to Genesis 1 of when God created the world.
Two things stand out to me as I read the creation account. First, the bible accounts that after God created each and every creation (light, land, sea, trees, etc), he would stop and see that it was good. “God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1). The bible specifically records God’s contemplation and meditation. It specifically records what he is taking in and dwelling upon—His own goodness.
The second thing that stands out to me as I read the creation account is that God ceased from creating on the seventh day and rested from all his accomplished work. “Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done” (Genesis 2:3). The first Sabbath was established. God actually created and intentionally honored a day of celebrated rest. So how was God resting? Was God tired?
When we hear the English verb “rest,” most of us immediately think of being tired or needing to recuperate drained energy, but the Hebrew translated “rest” in Genesis 2:2 of God resting from creating the world did not carry that idea. The definition given for the Hebrew word translated “rest” (shābat or shābath) in Genesis 2:2 is to “cease, desist.” God did not get tired, nor did He need a day to convalesce or build up His strength. He simply stopped creating the Universe.
When we look around our church and community, if we are honest, we sometimes think that people who are “busier” for God love God more. We tend to think that the person who is doing more must be pleasing God more. You know, it’s that man or woman who is always at church serving, volunteering and giving back, that man who is always going downtown and volunteering at the homeless shelter, the woman who is constantly opening up her home to needful strangers in hospitality. It’s THAT man who walks door to door to evangelize 7 days a week for 8 hours…for pete’s sake, he definitely loves Jesus the most!
While all these things are biblical and good in themselves, God strikes a balance. “Doing more” is not always pleasing to God. We see this principle in Luke 10: 38-42 as Mary sits at the feet of Jesus while Martha is distracted, stressed and busy with work and preparations needing to be made. Martha definitely thought Jesus would scold Mary for not helping her with the things needing to be done. Jesus responds differently than she expects.
Nowhere in the bible does God command us to live a life strained, burdened, restless, over-worked, sleepless...etc. Ministry may call us to be restless or tired for a season, but an essential lifestyle of restlessness is not pleasing to God AND is not biblical. In contrast, God commands us to rest. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 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…” (Exodus 20:8-10). We are no longer under the law, but God was establishing a principle here.
It is when we take the time to rest, and rest in the Lord, that our hearts are set again on Christ. It is when we take the time to cease from our doing that we are able to remind ourselves of who we are doing for and why we are doing. Isn’t it Christ himself? Yes. Isn’t it ironic that busyness, even busyness for God’s kingdom can cause us to forget God? In the busyness of our lives, we forget that one of God’s Ten Commandments was to rest.
May we follow God’s example as recorded in the creation account and see his goodness in all things. May we reflect on God’s creation all around us—family, friends, jobs, blessings, the air, the trees, the warm weather, life itself and stop to say, “Wow God, this is good! You are good!” May we take time to sit at the feet of Jesus in moments of cessation and follow God in example and commandment as we “bless and make holy” days of repose.
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