Today’s Blog: Idleness or Rest?

TODAY’S PROVERB: She watches over the affairs of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Proverbs 31:27, TLV

What does it mean to be idle? The definitions are: (of a person) avoiding work; lazy; without purpose or effect; pointless; (of a person) spending time doing nothing. There’s also idle as in when a car idles: (of an engine) running slowly while disconnected from a load or out of gear. Hmmm. There’s something about that last definition.

For a long time, I thought rest was the same as being idle. As a result I was in a perpetual state of exhaustion. Over time I noticed because of that fatigue, I began neglecting those most important — my family, spending time with the LORD.

Within the last definition there is a key to the difference between idleness and rest: disconnection. I wonder, what if idleness is the act of disconnecting to our purpose to avoid the work GOD has called us to? Whereas rest is reconnecting to GOD’s purpose. Recharging ourselves.

What do I mean by this? Our Heavenly Father, the Creator of the Universe, completed His work of Creation and rested on the seventh day. Why? He is an all-powerful Being, why would He need to rest? Our answer lies in Genesis 2:1-3, TLV

“So the heavens and the earth were completed along with their entire array. God completed—on the seventh day—His work that He made, and He ceased—on the seventh day—from all His work that He made. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, for on it He ceased from all His work that God created for the purpose of preparing.”

EMPHASIS MINE

Rest is needed for us. Our Father knows we are dust, not super beings (Psalm 103:14). He did create us after all.

How do we rest?

Whether we work at the mall, teach, work from home, or even do ministry, at some point we need to regularly disconnect from this and reconnect with our Creator through rest. Then, we need to daily reconnect with our family. And finally, reconnect with friends and community.

Did you know that GOD appointed the Sabbath as a festival? (Leviticus 23:3). Every week we are to commemorate and rest. Celebrate and reconnect with loved ones and Him.

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”

JOHN LUBBOCK, BRITISH STATESMAN, 1834-1913

Some ideas . . .

What could rest look like? So many things. That’s the wonderful thing about our Father, He gives us a lot of creative latitude. Things like:

• Pajama Day: Our family still tries for once a week where we stay in our pajamas. It might be a day of reading, watching movies, making a fun meal. The point is doing all this together.
• Going for a Walk: Enjoying the sunshine or evening sky is not only restorative spiritually, it is physically. Don’t treat this time as exercise, treat it as a treat to our soul.
• Picnic: Sitting in the shade with an almond butter and jelly sandwich, feeling the breeze on our face can do wonders with reconnecting us to Father, and our family. The food isn’t as important as the company.
• Take a Nap: I have a very active dream life at night. Sometimes a nap is a quick restoration without my having to figure out the significance of a dream. And I love that oh-I-really-slept feeling.
• Doing Something Creative: I am a writer, so I write most of the day. That creative activity is ministry for me, but maybe not for you. To partake in a non-ministry creativity, hubby and I took a watercolor class together. Now, we paint, albeit not that great. It doesn’t matter, doing something creative means connecting with our Creator. Touching what hours ago had not been and we can now hold in our hands as its “creator,” is precious.

These are just a few ideas to help reconnect in our rest. I’d love to hear what you do as a family. Rest has purpose. Probably more than we even realize.

May we watch over our rest, my friends.

Proverbs 31:27 Tree of Life Version – TLV, #tlvbible, #tlvproverbs

PINTEREST GRAPHIC–THANKS FOR PINNING