Take Time to Rest

     I feel it’s important for me to talk about resting. It’s a good thing, you know. Sleeping is one way of doing that; can you imagine how insane you’d go if this life just kept on going without breaks of unconsciousness?
     But I’m not talking- er, writing- about sleeping. I mean recharging your batteries. Relaxing. Breathing.
     I found it impossible for me to take breaks. When I take breaks, they’re long. When I work, I get really into it. It’s not healthy. There has to be some sort of balance. Clearly, I’ve never gotten the hang of that. But I’m getting better.
     This is something I’ve ignored for most of my life. Can I tell you why? I found it pointless. I still do quite often. I’d rather be able to sleep two to four hours a night, and spend the rest working on my current projects. For one whole month, a couple years ago, I got by on five hours a night, and hardly ever felt the side effects. It was miraculous. But what did I do with that extra time? I wasted it. Epically. Sleeping is so important to feeling refreshed. Trust me; I’m an incredibly light sleeper, with many sleep issues, so I’ve been sleep deprived ever since I can remember. Even when I was four!
     Here’s something else I’ve never appreciated: Eating. I abhor it often. Actually, I only developed a liking for more than just a few foods in the last year or so. I’ve been told by a friend that I’m the most picky of picky eaters she knows. And that’s a current statement! But God made us to eat. It’s how we get energy. That and water. Luckily, it’s my favorite beverage, it being so tasty. I mean, if I had to, I would definitely say that my home’s well water defeats the most elegant of cheeses and crushes the richest of chocolates. Coming from me, a cheese and chocolate addict (especially together), that means a lot. But now I’ve gotten off track!
     Okay, so we all understood sleep, food, and water long before I even mentioned it, right? Right. So let’s move on to the next most predictable way of recharging ourselves: Exercise. I loathe it. I get sweaty and out of breath. Sure, I love soccer! But the practices? Eek! Don’t let anyone see me like that! Exercise, or my lack of it, is something I’ve never gotten away with under the scrutiny of my marathoner mother. Or of my one-time marathoner father (before he hurt his knee and can now only run half marathons). Psh, even my sister exercises more than me, even without her many soccer practices (she’s in a tougher league than I was). It’s official; I’m one of the laziest people out there. Luckily, my body is nice enough to me for it to maintain a steady, healthy weight without my own effort, but that’s only a blessing from God. Seriously. Look at me! Cheese, chocolate, little sleep, and little to no exercise. I should be the size of my family by now, times three! (Moving on…) But it’s not all about weight. No, it’s health, which is why I’ve lately begun a daily exercising habit. Do you see how much physical work Biblical people did? And do you see their AGES? But I would bet that they were seriously ripped, even the women, especially the ones who were well-fed. But we’ve gotten seriously lazy in the past few centuries. It’s not how we’re meant, as human beings, to live. And there are tons of benefits. But I’ve droned on far too long to list them all. Let me just close by saying that God created us to exercise, and it’s healthy. It recharges us.
     Great. So we’ve covered the basics. But I found it difficult to change my habits with those three things until I relaxed in a different way; I began to breathe.
     We live in a busy age. There’s no time to breathe, truly, creating an uncomfortable environment, especially for Christians. This business can make us forget our real purpose: to please God in all that we do. Sabbath (as far as I can tell by skimming through the internet), or Shabbat in Hebrew, where it was originated, means rest, or ceasing of work. Even God took the seventh day off to rest. When’s the last time you truly took off a full day to rest? I sure haven’t done that in what is probably since I was a child, or even a baby. Since Jesus liberated us from the law, we’re free from following the multitude of Jewish laws about how we’re to observe the Sabbath. Okay, but we should still rest and meditate on Him and His Word. I know it’s not usually possible to devote an entire day to this; it’s just not realistic. I wish it were. But as it stands, that day is meant to give us life! I always feel so much more… filled when I’m at church, youth group, or the Christian summer camp I go to. Camp in particular has this wonderful effect not just on me, but on almost every single person. It’s because we’ve been pulled out of the world into our own solely for the purpose to get to know and praise God. He’s our focus and delight. He alone makes me joyful.
     He lets me breathe.
     This is how I recharge, aside from going to a Christian gathering:
     I like to go outside, alone, sometimes listening to my iPod, sometimes not, just looking at what God created, marveling, and thinking.
     I like to journal my thoughts, my pure, unadulterated thoughts about what I feel God telling me. Trust me,  they don’t look like this blog.
     I blog on here, but that’s only usually after my moment with God.
     This one’s my favorite. I like to blast my music or have complete quiet in my room with the door closed, and I’ll lay on my bed, sit in the corner of my room, sit or lay in my closet, or stand in my closet, sometimes with the door shut, and just think. And pray. A lot. When I say think, I mean pray. It’s that much of a habit for me. I just love to talk with my God. I tell Him my secrets, my regrets, my sorrows, my happiness. It doesn’t matter. And He always hears you, you know. He may not respond when or how you expect, but He hears you and He has a plan. And He’s God! All-powerful, mighty God, our wonderful Creator. He’s the best kind of breath. When I began to read my Bible more, and study and pray more, and live for Him more, I began to breathe more often. These recharging moments I take almost once a day, if not more, sometimes for a few second, sometimes for an hour. Usually, I just focus for a few minutes, but it’s so worth it. And now I’m able to breathe again.
     I feel rejuvenated. And now I’ve been able to actually let myself relax in the other three ways. Who knew that all it took was a few minutes to just let everything else go, and hand it to God? Communication is key, even in a relationship like this. People get so caught up in their lives, even when it’s living as a Christian, they forget that their religion is much less a religion and much more a relationship. And that’s something that’s much more important to build up.

     “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” Genesis 2:2-3