Saturday night at 8:00, the temperature dipped below freezing. It is Tuesday afternoon. It hasn’t topped freezing since. Now for those of you in cold parts of the world, this is no big deal. In Central Texas, this is a once per decade occurrence. Several layers of freezing rain and sleet make the streets impassable. EVERYTHING is shut down.

    At first, it was irritating getting stuck inside with so much to do. But having been under a great deal of emotional and ministry stress, I took one whole day to rest, recover, spend time with my family, and talk. Aside from phone calls, I’ve done nothing productive, except… REST!

    I grew up learning to work. Work was valued and cherished. If you didn’t have work to do, dad manufactured it. His excuse was that with three boys in the house, a certain amount of testosterone that had to be burned off each day or we would be impossible to live with. The real reason: he wanted us to learn to work. He worked hard. He wanted us to know how to work hard too!

    Along the way, however, I never really learned how to rest. My dad could rest. But I never learned. All my adult life, I’ve worked hard at learning to rest. As I have sought to be more yielded to God, I’ve heard messages in Scripture and from spiritual people that I overlooked earlier in my life. I’m learning to rest.

“On the seventh day, God rested.”

    “On the seventh day, God rested.” Wow! What a concept. I don’t think God NEEDED to rest. But I do believe he wanted us to see the need to rest. He built an order into creation and we only hurt ourselves if we ignore it: one day of rest, each week. We all need a seventh day!

    Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not a legalistic Sabbath keeper. In fact, I’m just learning to guard one day a week for rest. I don’t always do it well. But I am learning the lesson of the Psalms, “Be still and know that I am God.” I am learning from the example of Jesus, getting away from the crowds and withdrawing to a lonely place for rest and prayer and fellowship with intimate friends. I am learning the lesson of God: “On the seventh day, God rested!”

    Getting stuck at home because of ice would have driven me crazy ten years ago. This time I’ve received it as a sweet gift from God! This has been a blessed time to rest, to spend time with my family, and to spend time before him.

    What about you? Do you have a seventh day in your week? If not, why not set aside a day each week for God, family, friends, and rest. Your work, your worship, and your witness will all reflect a new strength from God that only a holy rest can bring!