Rest Is a Statement of Trust
“Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:”Exodus 20:9–10 (KJV)
If you only feel useful when you’re exhausted, rest will always feel like failure. A day off will feel like falling behind.
God built rest into the week from the start. “Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work.” It wasn’t a reward for finishing everything. It came every week, finished or not.
Jesus said, “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.” Rest is a gift, not a burden.
Taking a day to stop is a way of saying, every week, that God is God and you are not. The world keeps turning when you rest. Your work is still in his hands. That isn’t laziness. It is trust.
Read it yourself
Read Exodus 20:8–11. What reason does God give for the sabbath?
When was the last time you took a full day to stop? What made it hard?
Lord, you are God and I am not. Help me rest each week as an act of trust. Amen.