Christmas Survival Guide | Rest & Genesis 2:2

Its December 29th, Christmas has passed and New Year’s Eve is nearly here. We’re in the middle of holiday chaos: visiting with family, catching up with old friends, unpredictable schedules and traveling near and far. It’s about this time that the fatigue of the holiday season begins to set in, and also a time where finding rest is of the utmost importance. When thinking about why we need rest the answer is simple: because God rested. And whether or not God needed it, He chose to rest.

Genesis 2:2 says “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.” It doesn’t take much convincing that we as humans need rest, especially coming off finals week. So if God chose rest, how much more do we need it? What does rest look like?

Is going to bed at 2 am after watching 16 episodes of How I Met Your Mother is restful? Even if you wake up at noon the next day, I beg to differ. Although there is nothing wrong with spending part of our Christmas break in front of Netflix or sleeping for 14 hours, true rest may not be found there.

Rest looks different for all of us based on our personalities, capacities, and interests, but the common denominator is God. Many times throughout his ministry Jesus went away to be with the Father. Jesus rested with the Father.
 
There is no formula for how to rest. But here are some starting points for figuring out how YOU rest:

What refreshes you?
What exhausts you?
What do you need right now?
What re-centers you?
What is restful while you’re at school?
What is stressful to you?

After you’ve figured some of those things out, include time spent with God. He’s the one who created us with a need for rest. He’s the author of rest and the most restful person we can ever be around. Maybe for you rest looks like going on a run, maybe it looks like getting dinner with your best friend after a week of family time and laughing until you cry, or maybe it looks like a heightened awareness of God in the midst of a chaotic week -- an awareness that allows you to remain at peace because you trust Him and are re-centered by Him.

Whether you read this post while sipping coffee on a slow morning or during the five free minutes you have to sit in your car in between errands, our prayer is that God would meet you where you are, and that physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual rest would come to you.

Prayer

God,
Thank you for coming up with the idea of rest. Thank you for choosing rest and thank you for creating us to need it. We believe rest is a gift from you that is meant to be purposeful and enjoyed. Come now, in this moment and meet us where we are. With your awareness of all of our circumstances, needs, and desires, we ask for you to breathe peace into us. Create space and time for us to rest from the chaos and to refocus on you. Thank you that your very presence brings us rest and we pray that that would be the source of all of our rest. Allow us to see tangible difference because of this time, remind us of our need, and refresh us with what we need in this moment.
We love you, so much. Amen
 
Author | Becca Morgan