Busy RestingSample

Rest Your Rules

Many of the challenges that exhaust us every day are of our own making. The rules we make for ourselves can cause us to feel very tired. For example, an unwritten rule about the quality of the meals we serve our families causes us to spend hours preparing food. Self-made rules about social status drive us to work harder and harder to obtain what seems essential.

In Psalm 23, David finds rest from the pressure. “Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me.” (v. 4-5, NLT)

Relaxing the rules is what makes a holiday a time of rest. No alarm clocks dictate when to wake up in the morning. No gym that waits for us to go fight against gravity. Interesting food is served by the local community. Ice cream on the beach without thinking about the calories.

Again, most of us are lucky if we can manage one short holiday per year. But it’s possible to incorporate the same rest pattern into our weekly routine. Why not relax the rules for one day per week? Instead of feeling guilty about a grueling diet, take one day a week to eat whatever gives you joy and rest. Or why not rest from the inevitable conflict that arises from disciplining your teenager for one day each week? He/she will do the same thing tomorrow!

In Matthew 23, Jesus warns the Pharisees against placing too much value on the rules. “Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law - justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.” (v. 23) It may just be time to show yourself some mercy.

Do you think your own rules are tiring you out? Do you believe it is possible to relax the rules for a day without serious consequences? How do you think your family would respond if you rested from the rules for a day each week?

Let us look for ways to find rest in God’s grace. Let us not value our own rules at a higher price than the rest that God desires for us. “Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls’.” (Matthew 11:28-29)