Vacationing With God

Vacationing With God

This good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God. Hebrews 4:2

God wants us to rest and not be on the treadmill of life all the time.

The other day, Karen and I took this advice for ourselves. We were going to exercise together with the help of a video. When we turned it on, the first thing the instructor had us do was breathing exercises.

“Take slow, deep breaths. Exhale and relax at the sound of my voice. Set aside the worries of your day.”

The tape was a great reminder to slow down and savor life, even when we were about to get our heart rates up. Slowing down is something I often advise my patients. “Take time to breathe,” I tell them. “Stop and reflect on what’s going on in your life.”

Recently, I read a book that referred to “adding space to your life.” I like that description because too many of us don’t have space in our lives, unless it’s a special occasion.

For example, vacations are often planned as times of rest. They are times to sleep, rest, renew, and reflect without the burden of work or worrying about the usual things that trouble us.

Though many of us are not very good at taking these kinds of pauses, we should be. After all, God created us to rest. If you consider that God created human beings on the sixth day and then on the seventh day, rested, you might say that he created us to start resting on the very first day of our lives.

Even more important, he invited us to rest with him.

Think about that for a minute. The creator of the universe had a vacation planned, and he created us just in time to share that vacation day with him. What’s more, he invites us into that peaceful garden of rest every seven days.

Are you too busy to stop? Is there something more important in your life than vacationing with the creator of the universe? He is inviting you to rest with him. Will you accept his invitation?

TODAY’S RX

Today, take a moment to breathe deeply. With each breath, thank God for wanting to spend his day of rest with you.

God, you tell me in your Word to be still. Help me to pause and reflect on your goodness today, taking slow breaths and meditating on your promises.