Rest?

And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested (literally - to cease from exertion) on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

It's Sunday morning. I am sitting at the kitchen table, listening to two different kinds of music. I have my favorite old hymn (Great is Thy Faithfulness) playing on the computer. The door to the deck is open and I can hear at least three different kinds of birds. I slept in this morning, not worried about the demanding voice of the alarm clock. In my place between sleep and wake, I sensed the presence of God caressing me. I made some coffee a little earlier and I am still enjoying what's left of it. I am resting. My heart feels full, full of gratefulness toward God, full of joy, full of life.

I wonder for how many people, this morning was restful. I wonder for how many was it stressful. I have four children and can understand the stress that families undergo on a Sunday morning. We want to rest but the alarm clock demands that we start the day. We push the snooze button for five more minutes of pillow time. Suddenly we realize that we better get out of bed and get going. Somehow that extra five minutes mysteriously cause us to be at least fifteen minutes behind schedule. We feel the first tentacles of stress beginning to squeeze us. We pick up the pace which in turn causes a bit of frustration with other family members who seem to not have the same sense of urgency. Our frustration spills out on them. Within minutes the frustration level in the household increases. And this is a day of rest!

I wonder how many of us really have a day of rest. If God needed to rest, then most certainly we do as well. Yet our perceptions of the demands of God frequently cause us to be stressed. We feel guilty if we are late for church. We feel even more guilty not attending a church service on a Sunday morning. I don't know what God did on the seventh day, but I highly doubt that He felt guilty for resting.

If your day of rest is causing more stress than a normal day, if you are motivated to perform certain expected actions on your day of rest, then something is wrong in your life. You are headed for a spiritual and physical train-wreck (I speak from experience!) My morning has been glorious. My mind is refreshed, my heart is alive. All because I ceased from exertion!