Rest!

Rest and Sabbath

Last week we touched on the topic of sleep for restoration and growth; in this topic we saw that “Consistent, high quality sleep is where our bodies and our minds recover, restore and grow from all of the events and circumstances of our lives that occurred the day before.

One of the many definitions of rest is; to refresh oneself, as by sleeping, lying down, or relaxing (dictionary.com) and as followers of Christ we have often been told of the importance of rest and Sabbath but are we walking in the knowledge we have or just keeping our heads above water?

We have several examples through scripture dealing with resting in the Lord and even Jesus himself talks about the need for true rest.

King David writes a few in the Psalms:

Psalm 4:8 “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone O Lord, will keep me safe.
Psalm 127:2 he say’s “It is useless for us to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.”

Now clearly God is not saying we should be lazy and do nothing, but He is very clear throughout the scriptures that we as humans are meant to rest and pause from the normal chaos of our day while being restored and refreshed in him.

It would not be a bad idea to take some cues from our hearts (the actual beating muscle inside the chest). The heart itself actually designs our need for rest because every time it beats to pump blood through our bodies, it will take a rest after each beat. After each contraction of the heart, known as the systole, there is a time of relaxation from the work it has just done. In medical lexicon, this is called the absolute refractory period-a period in cardiac cycle when the heart cannot beat. During the relaxation period, known as the diastole, the heart not only recovers, but refills with blood. The relaxation phase is long enough so that the heart’s chambers can refill with the appropriate amount of blood and then it pumps the much needed nutrients, enzymes and food to the organs throughout the body.

Sabbath Rest:

God set up the idea of Sabbath not because He was too tired to continue for another day, but because He knew He had designed our bodies to need the rest for growth and repair both physically and spiritually. This is why in the world of athletics a well trained athlete who understands the need for rest in order to heal, restore and grow always incorporates a day of rest and relaxation into their week. The Sabbath is both Spiritual and Physical as we need to take a break from the work and sometimes heaviness of the everyday.

The important factor concerning the Sabbath is not the day of week in which we observe it, but more about how we live our lives everyday which counts. God has designed us to need rest and when we just keep running without time off our bodies (knowing how they are designed) will start to shut down in order to cause a mandatory rest period. Most times as we have possibly figured out the hard way, this mandatory time is usually more than a day and we then have to revive our immune systems and get them back into shape rather than having the rested to work as they should. The Sabbath is a day when I get things done, even when I feel I haven’t because I’ve taken time for the most important things in life and not just work. My Sabbath is when I do things which restores rest and renews my body, mind and spirit. This also means we need a rest from exercise, training and athletic activity; our bodies are not designed to go day in and day out without rest and if we are really actively involved in intense exercise and training and we do not rest we will risk damage to our bodies due to trauma. The same is true with our body and spirit rest concerning the Sabbath, even if you are not exercising intensely or at all.

If you are one who is not taking a restful Sabbath and continue to burn the candle at both ends and in the middle, you are in danger of hurting your body in every way possible and even in danger of being disobedient to God and his design.