Pause

At the start of the new school year, we hit the ground running with school work and activities. But from time to time our souls need us to slow down, to take a study break, to rest, to play, to pray. Let this be one of those moments:

“Come away from rush and hurry
to the stillness of God’s peace;
from our vain ambition’s worry,
come to Christ and find release.”

Marva Dawn in “Come Away from Rush and Hurry” (1999)

Listen

The heavens and the earth and all who live in them were completed. On the sixth day God completed all the work that he had done, and on the seventh day God rested from all the work that he had done. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all the work of creation.

Genesis 2:1-3

Think

I used to work at a bakery. The workday began at 5 o’clock in the morning each day with pans of bread dough and ended at 2 o’clock in the afternoon with racks full of fresh bread. When the last batch of bread was baked, the day was done and it was time to rest.

So much of our work, though, seems unfinished. We work to make the sports team and then we work even harder to be a starting player. We practice, but never feel perfect. We take one test only to have another the following week. There’s always work to be done.

At the beginning of creation, God sensed when the work was finished. This didn’t mean there would never be any more work for God to do. It means that even God separates work from rest and play. God created us and invites us to rest and to play. In your work this week listen for when you may need to rest or to play. Life is more than work.

Kyle Caudle

Pray

God of Rest and Play, help me see opportunities to rest and to play in the middle of a busy week. Remind me that I am more than the work that I do. Amen.

Go

Rest now in God, throughout the hurry of your day

Finding a space to pause, to pray, to play

And in that space of rest and re-creation

Remember:

You are enough

Because Christ is enough

Amen.