One of the things that I admire most about God is His intentionality. When God created the Earth, He didn’t just create it to look beautiful. He created it to be able to sustain and thrive with life. From the tiniest atom to the grandest mountain range, God paid great attention not only to the little details of His creation but also to how each of His creations should be equipped in order to function the way He designed for them to.
Rest often goes underappreciated as we try to keep up with the never-ending, daily demands of life, work and school. Our world promotes business so much that rest almost seems equivalent to laziness. But God was intentional about the way He designed our bodies to function, and He originally planned our lives to be filled with purposeful productivity, endless joy and never-ending peace. Unfortunately, sin has altered every part of our world, and we often find ourselves surrendering our spiritual, physical and mental health in order to accomplish the long list of tasks waiting to be completed.
Because we have such an awesome God who thinks ahead and provides for us before we even realize we have a need, God gifted us with the blessing of rest.
In Genesis, God shows us that rest is not a once-a-week activity but a daily blessing. At the end each creation day, God rested. He could have created the world in one day but wanted to model for us the way He desires for us to live and function.
Rest is a gift, and it belongs to you. You deserve it, and it’s how God designed for you to rejuvenate in order to accomplish the purpose He set for your life. A car can’t run without gas, and you can’t function without physical, mental and recreational rest.
So, challenge yourself at the end of every day to take a break from life, be proud of what you did accomplish, give to God what you couldn’t and rest. God designed for you to be a delicate human being, not a lifeless robot.