Resting Day
I try to nap every Sunday when my Littles nap. It's a part of my ritual of rest for the Sabbath. I practice ceasing from striving. I practice presence. I practice being outside and not doing chores or work or anything that says: productivity.
I want to recover from my week a sense of who I am apart from what I produce. This usually includes a lot of play, reading, being with people, walks, good food. Uncoiling what got wound so tightly.
I have the privilege of preaching a message in September at our church and I have been collecting stories and thoughts and scripture and been working on it in my brain as I fold clothes and do dishes.
But today, as I napped - in my rest - God gave me my main idea. I woke up, wrote it down and was refreshed.
He gave a gift in my sleep.
When I was doing nothing - God honored it - and did the work for me. Which is the beauty of putting work down. It's a step of faith. Will things get done if I stop? Will people get what they need if I take a break? Will it all get backlogged and I'll have to double-time it when I'm done resting?
Nope.
He is faithful. He rested on the seventh day. He wants us to rest, recover who we are, rely on Him to take care of it all while we nap. Sleep. Rest. Let go. This isn't normal for me - getting gifts in my sleep - but I'm taking it and saying thank you.
May you find rest one day this week - and see what God does while you put it all down.
“The Lord will accomplish what concerns me;
Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting;”