Rest

It's funny where we find rest.  Most of our daily appointment calendars have less holes than Ray Charles' dart board.  Our world is moving at a frenetic pace and if you are anything like me, most nights you fall into bed convinced that you couldn't have crammed one more thing into your day.  I like the verse in Hebrews that says, "There remaineth a rest for the people of God..."  It is one of the hopes and promises of heaven.  With the schedule that I've been keeping for the last six weeks, that's about all it has been.  Yesterday was the first Friday in six that I have been able to really just back off and relax a little.  I played something that vaguely resembles the game of golf with my friend Luke, and then I came home and looked around for my next project.  I am building a workbench and some shelves in my garage and it is not usable to keep the cars in right now, so I had to work on that a little bit, but before I started, I took just a few minutes to escape from it all and rest my mind and heart.  Across the road from my house is a large field.  The grass has grown up to the point that it is almost three feet deep.  Sometimes I go over and lean on the fence and just listen to the wind blowing through the grass.  Its a calming sound and it takes my mind off of the things that are going on around me.  Its funny how just a few minutes standing there can reinvigorate me for the tasks that are ahead. Our lives are so full of noise and motion, that we often forget that we need a little time of peace and quiet to recharge our batteries.  God knew that about us and that is why He established the Sabbath principle.  We are to follow His example.  He worked for six days and rested one.  We think we know better.  We think we can work 24/7 and we will get more done, but like Dr. Phil likes to say, "How's that working out for ya?"  Just as when we are obedient to God and give Him the tithe, He is able to accomplish more for us with the 90% than we could accomplish with 100%, so it is with rest.  When we are obedient in this area, our strength increases, both physically and spiritually, and in the long run we get much more accomplished.  Ultimately, the drive to work ourselves into the ground is just a symptom of misplaced focus.  When we start to focus on the world and on material things, the natural inclination is to try to do more and more so that we can have more and more.  When we focus on God, a large part of the process is waiting on Him and being ready to move at the slightest leading of His Spirit.  And while we wait, it's a good thing to take the time to listen to the wind blow.