Resting well in lockdown.
Photo by Cibao Chua on Unsplash
With summer now truly upon us and lockdown easing still further, our minds are perhaps turning to holidays and the possibility of taking a break, whatever that would look like! Even as we continue to push through with the new normal we are, I’m sure, glad of opportunities for rest and refreshment.
Plans have changed; disappointments are being processed. Future dates are being tentatively arranged. There is lots of rearranging, uncertainty and contingency planning – and it is wearying! We can feel frustrated about all the moving goal posts as we wait on Mr. Johnson and the Government’s daily briefings. Chuck in unreliable weather to the mix and we feel even more paralysed!
When so many restrictions to the normal rhythms of daily life have resulted in a blurring of boundaries between work and home/family life, “your space vs my space”, and a general weariness with too much screen-time, how do we rest well? What does the Bible tell us about finding rest?
As we trace the history of God’s people in the Bible we often find them in a kind of waiting room; whether that’s in their 40 year wandering through the wilderness or, as with our series in Daniel, in exile. Even God’s great King David, who saw plenty of action and variety in his life knew times of inactivity and waiting, of danger and fear. This is what he learned about true rest:
“Truly my soul finds rest in God;
My salvation comes from him
Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
He is my fortress, I shall never be shaken.”
Here is rest that is not just seasonal. It rides above the amount of sleep we had last night –a precious commodity, I know, in lockdown. It’s more valuable than other good and prized experiences and activities; our social networking, gardening, cooking, working out, shopping, novel reading and Boxset viewing.
Of all the places where men and women seek rest, David finds rest in the God who made him and saved him. These are words for us today, written then for corporate worship, passed on to us, who in Christ know this God of our salvation.
As another hymn writer, John Newton put it: “God formed us originally for Himself, and has given the human mind such a vastness or desire, such a thirst for happiness as He alone can answer. And therefore, till we seek our rest in Him, in vain we seek it elsewhere.”
Jesus also points to this source of rest, an invitation to follow Him, in the New Testament:
“Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
What does Jesus want me to do with my down time as his follower? What will be of greatest blessing to me?
It may be worth praying through before reaching for the remote control/running shoes/chocolate/your equivalent…. Maybe part of the problem is with the word ‘relaxation’ itself which can be so tainted by self-centredness and self-indulgence. In the busyness and mundanity of life what we really need is ‘refreshment’; whether in the mornings with the demands of the day ahead of us; during the day, as we take breaks from assigned tasks and plans, through into the evening when we often have more freedom to decide what to do with that precious time. We need it at the weekend, so that we can love and serve our families, church family and friends too whilst taking a break from the normal pace of life.
Rest is not so much what we do, but more a whole new approach to life. The crucial thing is that we do everything to the glory of God remembering that his desire of every minute of every day is to bless us and refresh us!