by Angelie Farañal
What? Sleep?
These days, people tend to overwork. Some tend to over rest. It is hard to maintain the balance of having enough work and enough rest. If we do not work, goals are not met and if we do not rest, we don’t have the strength to meet our goals. Then, how should we work diligently without overworking? How should we have enough rest without oversleeping?
In this blog, allow me to share with you what God has revealed to me about resting and working.
He gave me a revelation through some excerpts from Leif Hetland’s book "Called to Reign." which greatly helped me, and I’ve been wanting to share this with you. When I was stuffed with all my obligations, procrastinating, not giving my all, and weary almost every day, I felt my life seems to be different than before. My life improved, and I became healthier as I realized the need to rest. I hope the same for you.
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One aspect of the Creation story that amazed me and that I had never understood/observed until recently was the man's first assignment on earth. I used to believe that when God created man, man would directly do the job, stewarding the earth and everything in it, and multiply. Yes, it was God's first instruction to man, and then He rested on the seventh day. However, in Genesis 2:1-3, God emphasizes the importance of “rest” first before doing anything. And not just relaxing but having physical preparation and peace of mind with Him before starting the mission.
With Rest.
If you have “rest” in your life, you can become a resting place for God – a place of habitation for Him. When we can live from that resting place, it doesn’t matter how much shaking occurs we will be able to surpass it. Like Jesus, He slept at the back of the boat while the storm was raging. We can find rest amid anything because our eyes are on our Father, who cannot be shaken by anything. Now, I know that the One who rules and reigns over the universe is for me, and not against me. That doesn’t mean I won’t experience difficulties—I have gone through many because the enemy is always trying to steal, kill, and destroy—but I know my Father promised abundant life. Anything that comes against me is an opportunity for me to step up to another level of wisdom, power, and love. I never need to be restless. I can have shalom anywhere, in any season, because I know who I am and who God is. (Leif Hetland, Called to Reign)
I realized that rest isn’t just a necessity but a gift for the sons and daughters of God. If we want to be God's resting place, we must seek for God and invite Him to dwell/live in us. Like our earthly father that we can spend time with while eating, working, relaxing, or doing everything else at home.
Without Rest.
Without rest, you will miss the opportunities to go deep and to take care of yourself. (Leif Hetland, Called to Reign)
The list goes on and on about the disadvantages of not having enough sleep. For sure, you know how difficult it feels to do anything when you lack sleep or rest. And it is even harder when you sleep but you are not resting. It feels like you had enough, but you do not feel content at all.
Now, how shall we increase our capacity without decreasing our peace? Shall we leave our goals unmet? The solution is not a mystery, but it is something that most of us are unconscious of.
To increase one’s capacity without decreasing our peace starts with knowing your identity, identity of being God's sons and daughters. We can't recognize the importance of investing in rest and well-being if we don't know to whom we belong, who owns us, who is our Father, who is our Creator, and who is our Source. Lack of knowledge about your identity or not giving it any significance will just let you end up pushing and stressing yourself to achieve your goals. Overworking to the point where you will only have less time to care for yourself and others. Even you can't commune with God because it is becoming increasingly rare. You will learn and be able to properly care for yourself if you realize who you are, that you are a child of God since you have already caught the vision of the Father. That His plan for you is to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future. When you understand His vision, you will be motivated to be healthy both inside and out because you don't want to be without God's perfect will in your life, right? His vision for us includes stewarding the earth and going out and multiplying disciples. We must have the strength to obey God, which we can only obtain by understanding who we precisely are in the eyes of our Father.
Our resting and reigning are connected to Jesus. He is in the resting place and is the resting place itself, and we are in Him. He has restored us to what we're given at the beginning of creation. We must understand what Jesus came to restore—our original purpose in Eden, face-to-face with God and at rest with Him—if we want to experience it. When we are at “rest” in God, He is at “rest” in us. When He rests in us, we are complete in Him. We can only receive from Him when He is at rest/dwell in us; this union transforms everything. We no longer rest from work; we work from a place of rest. The resting place is a lifestyle, and in that lifestyle, we begin to reign with Him. It is the starting point for knowing our Father, receiving our inheritance, and fulfilling our destiny. Whatever we receive in the resting place, we can become. Whatever we become, we can release. (Leif Hetland, Called to Reign)
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