when we need more of less...
I stood next to two women during my workout class this and overhearing their conversation about being tired. One of them said, "Do you ever start to feel nauseous because you're so exhausted? My plate is so full, and my mom gets on to me for doing too much but I have to! I am running business and I have 3 kids. I'm busy!" To be so busy, however, she looked fabulous! I felt a little ashamed in my over sized t-shirt and baseball cap. All I had accomplished before class was waking up, feeding Annabeth, and eating a bowl of cereal. She looked like she was ready to take on the world, and I bet that's why she left early. She had important things to do!
I've been feeling really guilty lately for not being busy. We live in a society that praises the overworked and guilt trips the rested. I keep thinking I need to do more. I need to fill up my plate. I thought I would be busy when I became a mom, but surprisingly, my life has slowed down immensely. I'm less busy now than I have ever been, and I have more opportunities for rest than I've ever had. Strange, isn't it? Because every mother I know is constantly talking about how busy and tired she is, and I began thinking that maybe something is wrong with me. Am I a lazy mother? Have I unknowingly turned into a sloth? But the more I've wrestled with this issue, I've come to realize that busyness does not equate productivity nor success. Exhaustion does not signify importance. I don't think God has called us to constantly live at our wits end, stretched thin, and running off of cups of coffee to get through the day. God purposefully created rest. God made time for rest. And God didn't, for a moment, feel guilty about it.
On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation. - Genesis 2:2-3
Could God have done more? I'm sure He could have if he felt it necessary. There's always more to be done, isn't there? The laundry never ends. The dust never settles. The carpet can always be vacuumed. Dinner must always be made. Work will never cease, and dreams can forever be chased. We can always be doing as there is always more to do. But just because we could do more doesn't mean we need to do more. Sometimes we desperately need more of less. We need to surrender and take a few irons of out the fire so we have time to rest. Time to enjoy. Time to live because life is never going to slow down for us.
He blessed it and he declared it holy because it was the day he rested. And maybe, rather than looking for things to keep us busy, we find more blessings in the holiness of rest. We see it as a gift, and we receive it. And maybe we have to be purposeful and intentional to find it, but when we do, we relish in it. We don't let ourselves feel guilty about it. We remember that God, himself, did what He needed to do, no more and no less, and then He made a point to rest. To be satisfied with the good He had done. It was sufficient. It was enough. And if God chooses rest, the one who never sleeps nor slumbers, the immortal, the Forever, the Beginning and the End, then I think we've got a good excuse to clean off our plates and choose to enjoy the gift of rest, too. Because tomorrow, there will be more to do.
"It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat. For God gives rest to his loved ones." - Psalm 127:2
I've been feeling really guilty lately for not being busy. We live in a society that praises the overworked and guilt trips the rested. I keep thinking I need to do more. I need to fill up my plate. I thought I would be busy when I became a mom, but surprisingly, my life has slowed down immensely. I'm less busy now than I have ever been, and I have more opportunities for rest than I've ever had. Strange, isn't it? Because every mother I know is constantly talking about how busy and tired she is, and I began thinking that maybe something is wrong with me. Am I a lazy mother? Have I unknowingly turned into a sloth? But the more I've wrestled with this issue, I've come to realize that busyness does not equate productivity nor success. Exhaustion does not signify importance. I don't think God has called us to constantly live at our wits end, stretched thin, and running off of cups of coffee to get through the day. God purposefully created rest. God made time for rest. And God didn't, for a moment, feel guilty about it.
On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation. - Genesis 2:2-3
Could God have done more? I'm sure He could have if he felt it necessary. There's always more to be done, isn't there? The laundry never ends. The dust never settles. The carpet can always be vacuumed. Dinner must always be made. Work will never cease, and dreams can forever be chased. We can always be doing as there is always more to do. But just because we could do more doesn't mean we need to do more. Sometimes we desperately need more of less. We need to surrender and take a few irons of out the fire so we have time to rest. Time to enjoy. Time to live because life is never going to slow down for us.
He blessed it and he declared it holy because it was the day he rested. And maybe, rather than looking for things to keep us busy, we find more blessings in the holiness of rest. We see it as a gift, and we receive it. And maybe we have to be purposeful and intentional to find it, but when we do, we relish in it. We don't let ourselves feel guilty about it. We remember that God, himself, did what He needed to do, no more and no less, and then He made a point to rest. To be satisfied with the good He had done. It was sufficient. It was enough. And if God chooses rest, the one who never sleeps nor slumbers, the immortal, the Forever, the Beginning and the End, then I think we've got a good excuse to clean off our plates and choose to enjoy the gift of rest, too. Because tomorrow, there will be more to do.
"It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat. For God gives rest to his loved ones." - Psalm 127:2
This has been such a hard lesson for me to learn. Thanks for your thoughts on this.
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