Rest Series

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Rest

Selected Scriptures

(Video) Happy Mother's Day, Everyone!

Last week I heard a conversation between my daughters. One said: "I'm not going to have kids. What if they don't turn out like me?

My other daughter added: "Worse. What if they turn out like me?"

Your kid know deep down how hard it is to be a mother. One day out of the year is not enough to honor the roles a mother has in her children's lives. Mother's Day is given to remind us to honor our mothers every day.

On May 8, 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed a Joint Resolution designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day. Thousands of years before that God commanded His people in Exodus 20:12, "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you."

When we honor our parents, we honor God. Let us honor God in our worship service by honoring our mothers. Whether you are a grandmother, a mother or an expectant mother, will you stand? We want to recognize and honor you. I want to pray for you; after that, the ushers will present to you a Mother's Day gift from the Church. (PRAY)

This morning we'll be looking at a topic needed by Moms and relevant for many. The topic is rest. Next week we will look at the complement of rest, and that is work.

If I were to teach on rest five years ago, I would have felt like a hypocrite. In college I discovered the emotional high of high achievement through hard work. Being a new Christian at the time didn't help. It only increased my desire for perfection, and perfection required harder work.

In seminary, my counseling professor chided me: "Dana, leave the next generation something to do." One of the books on my shelf was When I Relax I Feel Guilty by Tim Hansel. That title described why I was driven toward workaholism. It took Parkinson's disease to slow me down.

We don't all have the same need for rest. Some of us need to rest more, while others need to work more. Some may think they're resting when they are really restless, bored or lazy. These are not the same as resting.

Tim Keller identified four current trends regarding work that leads to overworking and under-resting: 1) job insecurity, 2) high performance expectation, 3) technology that enables work from anywhere, and 4) deriving one's meaning and worth from work.

In the remaining time, we'll look at reasons for rest, ways to rest and the ultimate activity of rest.

Let's begin with the reasons for rest. First we are conditioned to rest. Matthew 8 records Jesus healing many sick people. It was an exhausting day of ministry. Jesus eventually leaves the crowd by boat, and he falls asleep in the boat before he arrives at his destination.

16 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick....

18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.... 23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.

Many of us are over-worked and overstressed. Whether driven from within, driven by deadlines or driven by crying babies or overscheduled teenagers. Parents, especially mothers who work outside the home, need to make rest a priority.

Here are some signs we need to rest: Crankiness, impatience, depression, anxiety, fatigued, overwhelmed, exhibiting poor judgment.

One survey found that 30% of Americans are sleep deprived, getting 6 hours or less of sleep per night. Sleep deprivation is a risk factor for chronic illness and work-related accidents. Sleep deprivation reduces our body's ability to fight off infections and our mind to make good choices. Sleep isn't the only way to rest; we'll look at others later.

Here's another reason for rest: We are created to rest. In the creation account, Genesis 2:2-3 reads, "And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation."

On the 6th day, God created mankind, his final creation. On the 7th day, God rested. Not because he was tired, but because he was finished creating.