Resting on a Weekend
Someday, I want weekends to be a thing again.
Today happens to be one such day: my class and student are off for the holiday weekend, so I have no formal obligations the rest of the day!
What does a man do with a weekend?! I've almost forgotten.
Today, I'm going thrift-store shopping with my pretty girl! There will likely be a visit to a park with my family. As always, I hope there will be food. Maybe a nap? Perhaps a board game or three.
I think I already mentioned it recently, but I'll say it again. I've been reflecting on rest: what it is, how to do it, etc. One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 30:15: "In repentance and rest is your salvation; in quietness and trust is your strength."
Repentance leading to salvation I can get. But rest? Rest is your salvation? Trust providing strength I can get. But quietness?
Is that like the strong, silent type? I'm gonna go ahead and guess it's some kinda internal quiet — much like trust. And then I roll back to "repentance and rest" and wonder how closely tied those two are.
Alongside thinking about rest, I've also been thinking about sin. The short story is I wonder how much energy I'm supposed to put into my sin. Should I bewail every day? Should I get really wrapped up in my failures?
I feel like a lot of people love getting wrapped up in sin — or even fabricating it. Fabricating and catastrophizing seem quite popular.
I don't want to wallow in the whiners' ways, but that's just my point: I don't think we're called to wallow — much less fabricate and dramatize.
I think we're called to repentance and rest: like an attitude that says, "God, I fucked up. I turn away from it in contrition. I embrace Your new life with joy." Full stop.
I must admit that on my mind right now are sin-mongers and fear-mongers: those who are looking to spread sin and admonition as far and as deep as they can. Blech!
In contrast, I recommend clinging to God like the stupid kids that we are. Are we getting everything right? Nope. Are we getting everything wrong? Also nope.
We waste so much energy trying to make sure we're doing the right things. Even worse, many of us throttle others by making sure they're doing the "right" things.
Rest. Rest in God's goodness. Rest in God's mercy. He knows we're bumbling idiots, and He cherishes us. Not because we do everything right. He cherishes us because He is love! That's it! In the face of God's love, there's no earning. There are no good grades. There is no better or worse. There's just this big, floundering mess known as humanity. And there's this big, healing mess known as God's love.
We can thrash around outside it — or we can rest inside it.
Today happens to be one such day: my class and student are off for the holiday weekend, so I have no formal obligations the rest of the day!
What does a man do with a weekend?! I've almost forgotten.
Today, I'm going thrift-store shopping with my pretty girl! There will likely be a visit to a park with my family. As always, I hope there will be food. Maybe a nap? Perhaps a board game or three.
I think I already mentioned it recently, but I'll say it again. I've been reflecting on rest: what it is, how to do it, etc. One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 30:15: "In repentance and rest is your salvation; in quietness and trust is your strength."
Repentance leading to salvation I can get. But rest? Rest is your salvation? Trust providing strength I can get. But quietness?
Is that like the strong, silent type? I'm gonna go ahead and guess it's some kinda internal quiet — much like trust. And then I roll back to "repentance and rest" and wonder how closely tied those two are.
Alongside thinking about rest, I've also been thinking about sin. The short story is I wonder how much energy I'm supposed to put into my sin. Should I bewail every day? Should I get really wrapped up in my failures?
I feel like a lot of people love getting wrapped up in sin — or even fabricating it. Fabricating and catastrophizing seem quite popular.
I don't want to wallow in the whiners' ways, but that's just my point: I don't think we're called to wallow — much less fabricate and dramatize.
I think we're called to repentance and rest: like an attitude that says, "God, I fucked up. I turn away from it in contrition. I embrace Your new life with joy." Full stop.
I must admit that on my mind right now are sin-mongers and fear-mongers: those who are looking to spread sin and admonition as far and as deep as they can. Blech!
In contrast, I recommend clinging to God like the stupid kids that we are. Are we getting everything right? Nope. Are we getting everything wrong? Also nope.
We waste so much energy trying to make sure we're doing the right things. Even worse, many of us throttle others by making sure they're doing the "right" things.
Rest. Rest in God's goodness. Rest in God's mercy. He knows we're bumbling idiots, and He cherishes us. Not because we do everything right. He cherishes us because He is love! That's it! In the face of God's love, there's no earning. There are no good grades. There is no better or worse. There's just this big, floundering mess known as humanity. And there's this big, healing mess known as God's love.
We can thrash around outside it — or we can rest inside it.
Comments
Post a Comment