Rest is Holy

This verse popped up in my journal last week.....I needed to hear it. 

When I was younger the idea of Sabbath was simple....time to rest and not be stressed. The "Sabbath Day" meant, simply, Sunday...a day for church and family. Now though, at 28 years old, the idea of rest, and in particular "Sabbath" has a whole new meaning for me. Genesis 2 speaks of God taking the seventh day of the creation narrative to rest and how He looked upon all that he had made and "saw that it was good." Too often when I look at this passage, I take the standard "yeah, yeah, I need to rest. God, the creator of the universe did, so surely me, a 1st grade teacher and wife can also take the time to rest, maybe even take a bubble bath or a nap. Got it." However, only recently have I begun looking at the second part of what God did: He looked upon it all and "saw that it was good."
God is the ultimate perfectionist, after all, he created a world that runs perfectly, divinely. He created the sun, moon, stars, every creature from a caterpillar that masterfully morphs into a butterfly to flowers that bloom each spring no matter what winter frosts threatened their existence, to us, humans. I'd say that's pretty darn perfect. But aside from what God does (rest), it's also notable what He doesn't do: mess and tinker. Rest and then pop back up into the stressful world come Monday morning. Rest purely for sanity's sake. No, He sits back and admires His handiwork and sees that it is good. Good. Not "okay," not "it'll do," but good.....holy even. I'm not saying what any of us does is perfect or deserving of our consistent admiration or self praise. It is important, though, to reflect and appreciate a job well done. To see how far you have come and be glad, to recognize the goodness.
 On our journey to get closer to the heart of God, let us acknowledge that God commands us not only to stop but to also to stop and smell the roses. Rest is not just a chance for us to rest our weary bodies, minds, and hearts (although rest does do that....isn't it nice and necessary to just "do nothing" sometimes?). Instead rest invites us to pause, look around, and see the good. Only then can we fully and freely rest, knowing He truly has the whole world in His hands. What a fine and cozy place to rest indeed.