TIME OUT!

For Rest

Coaches of the USA Gold Medal Olympic softball team expressed that one of the greatest needs of players at all levels is the ability to execute the bunt. Imagine that! Even the best softball players in the world struggle with one of the easiest fundamentals of the game! 

There seems to be another skill that we've lost in our fast-paced, high-demanding culture: REST. Deadlines, demands, and pressures all squeeze precious minutes, hours out of our schedules. And once again, we so easily neglect one of the basic necessities in life. Unfortunately, many times we do not recognize our need until it's too late.

Rest is Sanctioned

God our Creator knows our need to be re-energized, and set aside a day of rest for us (Mark 2:27). The example we are to follow is to work six days, then rest on the seventh (Exodus 20:8-11, Deuteronomy 5:12-15, Hebrews 4:9,10). If God rested from His work, who are we to think we do not need to do the same?!

Rest is Being "Safe at Home"

Through faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work, we can rest safe and secure of our salvation, acceptance, and position in Christ. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8,9). Are you resting in your relationship with God? Is this security based on your "good works" or faith in the finished work of Christ? If you find yourself performing to receive God's love and acceptance, you can stop! Rest in the truth that God already loves and accepts you just as you are! (Zephaniah 3:17; Romans 5:8; Ephesians 2:4-5; 1 John 3:1, 4:9-10)

Rest is "Sweet!"

Ceasing from our daily work makes us more productive. Have you ever noticed what a coach does when the momentum seems to swing in favor of the other team? Or what do you do when it looks like the Barnum and Bailey Circus has pitched its big tent on your field or court? What action will your coach take? What can you do as an athlete? Call it: "Time out!"

We need time outs to relax, time outs to step back and refocus, time outs to be motivated and directed by our coach. If time outs are beneficial and often times necessary for success in competition, how much more important is it for us step away from our daily routine? Don't we need to renew our minds, refocus on our purposes and plans, receive motivation and direction from our Master Coach, and be refreshed by His presence?

In his book, "The Applause of Heaven," Max Lucado stresses the importance of rest this way:

"When I was ten years old, my mother enrolled me in piano lessons...Spending thirty minutes every afternoon tethered to a piano bench was a torture just one level away from swallowing broken glass... Some of the music, though, I learned to enjoy. I hammered the staccatos. I belabored the crescendos... But there was one instruction in the music I could never obey to my teacher's satisfaction. The rest. The zigzagged command to do nothing. What sense does that make? Why sit at the piano and pause when you can pound? 'Because,' my teacher patiently explained, 'music is always sweeter after a rest.' It didn't make sense to me at age ten. But now, a few decades later, the words ring with wisdom--divine wisdom.'

Are you one to say, "I don't have time to rest!"? You can't afford NOT to rest! Be a good manager of your time the other six days. Then rest assured that the Lord will honor His Word. Set it apart for His purposes: rest, relax, enjoy life!!! In God's grace, He gave us 24-hour days! "And on the seventh day, God rested..."

"If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath... then you will find JOY in the Lord, and He will cause you to ride on the heights..." (Isaiah 58:13-14).