Time Out

My lifestyle is hectic. It’s just the way I am. So when I take a sabbath afternoon’s rest, reading the Saturday papers, followed by a ‘fix’ of Poirot on the telly while eating leftovers, why should I feel guilty and unproductive?

God knows we need time out. For those parenting in this generation, ‘time out’ is a punishment a child is sent to for misbehaving. For God, ‘time out’ is a blessing, an opportunity to draw breath, take stock, relax and be refreshed.

I don’t mind being sent to Time Out. Think I’ll read some more of the papers now.

Call to Rest

Often I hear God in the natural world or in situations. This morning, though, he has been speaking loud and clear through his word. First, Don and I read Matthew 11:28: ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary...and I will give you rest.’ We do daily readings from the Upper Room, but because we miss the odd day we are way out of synch and today’s reading was actually from the 28^th of January.

Then I picked up the daily readings I follow on my own in Day by Day with God. And today’s reading was from Mark 6:31: ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’

I think I’m spotting a trend here. Been really busy recently, but pleasantly so. Yesterday was a lovely day but I was going until about 11, and congratulated myself on not feeling very tired when I finally got into bed. This morning, though, I’m kind of dragging. 

I guess the Lord knows what we need before we acknowledge it ourselves. What I really love about both of these verses is not just the invitation to rest, but the promise that Jesus is in the resting. Jesus is there, and where Jesus is, there is peace and refreshment and renewal and strength. 

Tomorrow I plan to soar on wings like eagles, to run and not grow weary, to walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:31) Because as I put my hope in the Lord, I will renew my strength. 

Today, though, I hear a call to a Sabbath rest. Time set apart with my God, his gift.

A Snow Day!

A snow day! Yippee!

Sometimes we yearn for a referee to blow a whistle and call time out from the hurly burly of life. To give us time to sit and stare out the window, maybe. To gaze into a blazing fire. To read a bit of Shakespeare or a poem. To snuggle under a duvet and watch a box set.

Grateful that today God blew the whistle.

Of course, he blows the whistle every week. He knows we need time to sit and stare, to regroup, to chill out. He called it a Sabbath. It’s his gift to us.

We shouldn’t feel guilty for taking time out. We were made for a day’s rest. Every week.

Rest

Today at Bible study we were talking about a passage in Exodus where God tells Moses that the Sabbath day – a day of rest – is a gift from Him.

For some reason I found that powerful. Here He has already given us life, every breath we take, a colourful and amazing world in which to live, and the lavishness of his gifts extends to the detail that He knows better than any of us seem to – we are hard-wired to require regular rest. 

Rest may not mean just sitting around and reading or watching telly. It means different things for different people. The physio in our midst mentioned how healthy active exercise is for the neuro-physiology of our brains...how it makes us feel better emotionally, refreshes us and is just plain good for us. It can be understood as ‘rest’ too.

Sometimes, when we are anxious or upset, active exercise refreshes our minds precisely because it gives us a ‘rest’ from going round and round about whatever it is that is bothering us. 

I do love the way God has created us to do good works, but his gift to us is a regular time of rest, to recharge our batteries and refresh our souls. One of the most fulfilling ways I know to rest is to sit with my Bible, maybe a printed prayer or poem, and a notebook, and do some talking but mainly just to listen. To listen to the rhythm of my breath and remember who has given it to me; to turn over a chunk of Scripture in my mind, or on my lips, until I’ve sucked all the sweetness from it and really understand it in a newer, deeper way. I don’t do it often enough, and I know I would benefit from regular periods of that kind of rest.

God bless me with the self-discipline to accept, and unwrap, your gift of rest today.

5 - 2

Fasting from food for two days a week seems to be the new miracle cure. Not only does it result in weight loss, but it also gives overworked organs a chance to rest and recover. 

Our bodies are such miracles of creation. I believe that God intervenes in startlingly miraculous ways sometimes to heal, but maybe the even greater miracle is that he has given us bodies with the innate ability to heal themselves. A child’s skinned knee, which scabs over while new skin is formed beneath the tear. The nuisance of the runny nose of a cold, which eventually dries up and equilibrium is restored. 

Perhaps the one ingredient required from us in this mix is time. We need to give ourselves time to heal. Time in bed when we are sick. Time off from eating when we are overweight. We need to find the rhythm of life which allows us to take time, without feeling guilty.

Our spirits, too, need time. To continually bombard our minds and ears with noise, with arguments and anxieties and stimulation, wears us out spiritually and gives us no time to experience the amazing reality of this world God has placed us in. 

We need to take time to sit and stare. To breathe deep. To enjoy the changing seasons. To laugh with a child, play with a dog or a cat. 

We need time to be. 

Will you join me today, and fast from busyness so that you can recover some of your balance and life? 

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. It is the gift of God, and it can come in snatches every day, as well as in one big chunk on the weekend.