Letting Your To Do List Sleep for the Night: What Creation Teaches Us About Rest

There was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

Genesis 1:19 (ESV)

Hello friends! Today I'd like to touch on rest.

I read through four days of God creating the universe before I realized that the Sabbath wasn't the only rest He took. We know He rested on the seventh day, after all His work was done, but He also followed a pattern for each of the six days of work: He created, He looked back at what He'd done and appreciated His hard work, and He rested until the next day began.

God - almighty, all-powerful, and all-knowing, could have created every bit of the universe in the blink of an eye, but He didn't. He created "slowly" (it feels strange to say creating an entire universe in six days is slow, but I suppose we are talking about God) and took time to look back on the day and rest for the night.

It's so easy for us to go go go in an effort to get more done. We're encouraged to work full-time jobs, hit the gym, take care of kids, help with homework, keep a clean and organized home, and have a side hustle. Ladies who are able to do it all seem incredible to us, and we ask them curiously, enviously, fearfully, "how?" 

Those ladies are impressive but also aren't all of us. A group of us aren't able to do it all, or get it all done. Even a few of the things we're expected to do by our families, friends, and western culture have us running flat out, never catching up and never pausing to breathe. 

God didn't work that way. That isn't how He modeled work, and that isn't how He modeled rest.

We have to do lists a mile long. We prioritize the top three tasks for the day, find productivity hacks, and stretch ourselves thin getting things done. Hard work is good for us, and that's definitely modeled in scripture. Rest is also good for us, and that's modeled first thing in Genesis. 

God had an entire universe to create. He had whole sets of tasks to complete. Making night and day; water and sky; seas and land; the stars, moon, and sun; animals of the sea and of the air; and animals of the land and human beings made in His image. He completed a hard day's work and then He let His to do list sleep for the night. 

Our "rest" should not only include a Sabbath's observance, but also a distinct separation between a day of work and a night of sleep. 

Take care of yourselves, friends, and follow the example the Lord has set for us. Put your to do list to bed each day and start a night of rest.

All the love,

Emily

P.S. Feel free to contact me at admin@tulipsandbasil.com!