Rest Best - post 1 of 5

Watch the broad skies pepper undulating gossips; smell the trees that slowly meander home; hear the timeless stories of the tumbling hills. Breathe. In the words of Dr Seuss: ‘It’s wider there, in the wide open air’. There is something so vastly refreshing to me about breathing in the good country air after I’ve been caged in the smog for too long. Something so restful. 

My recent reflections, however, have challenged me to think that simply stopping to breathe in the country air isn’t all there is to rest. I’ve realized that resting well isn’t just about a ‘vacation’ from the routines of life. It is true that as we rest we step away temporarily from what we do; but in the season of ‘rest’ we also step towards things that recharge and freshen up our perspective for the season of ‘work’. It’s not just recharging the batteries but resetting the GPS! We live in a world that strives to work in order to rest: to flog overtime and accrue annual leave in order to go on the overseas adventure. I hope my recent musings on this topic will help you appreciate the opposite of this scenario: striving to rest well in order to work well. Please keep in mind that these are my thoughts and reflections, not authoritative teaching. My hope is that reading these posts will launch you into a journey of your own pondering, & my prayer is that God will reveal a glimpse of Himself to you as you consider some of His word scattered amongst my thoughts.

I'm going to divide my thoughts over the next 4 posts -
- How 'creation' helps me think about work & rest
- How 'the fall' helps me think about work & rest
- How Jesus helps me think about work & rest
- My journey of resting best

In the mean time, start your journey of pondering: How is your work and rest different? Can you do both at the same time? What do you rest from? What do you rest in?