Day Of Rest

 

The world is spinning, work refuses to take a break, family and friends need attention, suddenly it feels like the week is 8 days long and not one of them is free. No matter who you are, what your job is, or what your life is like, no one can maintain that. Everyone needs a day of rest. Even God, who created the entire universe and every little thing in it, had a day of rest and asks us to do the same. The way our society is set up makes this complicated, but even more important. For most, this day of rest has been Sunday. That’s just become the expectation. But what if you work on Sundays? What if Sunday is when you have to take care of all the housework? What if Sunday is just not a day you can rest? But did you ever stop to consider that day of rest doesn’t have to be a Sunday? Maybe for you, like me, it’s on a Wednesday.

I never intended for Wednesdays to become what they have. I didn’t set out and say “I will take Wednesdays off” It was never on purpose. But somewhere along the way that’s exactly what happened. My college classes, my work schedule, my body’s natural rhythm just all synchronized to give me Wednesdays off, for several years in a row. So, here we are, with Wednesdays becoming my Day Of Rest.

As I get older and my responsibilities become more and more demanding, I realize my brain is having a hard time keeping up. This has always been the case to some extent. I usually worked my school schedule to give myself an “easy day” where I got to only work on the subject I enjoyed. Or as a teenager and young adult I’d make sure to get my work done, but also balance it with things I wanted to do like play computer games or work on my writing. Without realizing it I was balancing my responsibilities with the breaks I needed. Now, however, in the midst of several jobs and other adult responsibilities, finding that balance without physically putting it on my calendar has become impossible. Even then it’s a challenge.

With more responsibilities comes more possibility for burnout. In my case (autistic, read more about that in previous posts) the possibility and aftermath of reaching that stage is even more severe. I can’t just go on a vacation or have an afternoon off and be ready to go for another month, another week, or even just a day. Depending on how many things are on my plate and how long it’s been since I had a proper break, the length and type of rest needed to function may differ. And if I don’t get it, my brain gets foggy, my body gets slower, my emotions climb to the surface, and once I start to slip into a breakdown there’s no telling when I might be able to function properly again, proving to be no help to anyone until the proper rest is had.

My day of rest usually includes having time totally to myself to rest physically, but also mentally and spiritually. Time to focus on God: read the Bible, pray, and spend time in his presence. Time to focus on my body and its needs: Exercise, being intentional about eating good food and at the right times, waking up and going to bed at my usual times instead of messing with it for the sake of schedule. And focus on things that bring me joy: Writing, organizing things, working on one of many hobbies, spending time in nature. If you know me personally, you would recognize this plan as my daily challenge this year, and you’d be right. I do my best to make each of these things a priority every day, not just on my day of rest, and I encourage you to do the same. However, my day of rest is when I focus solely on these things and nothing else. I give myself time to really get sucked into my different tasks rather than putting my day on a timer.

I know this sounds like an impossible task, finding a day when you can focus solely on yourself, but I promise you it’s worth it. God tells us we should work, and be there for our friends and family, and love strangers and enemies alike, but He also tells us to rest. To take a break from work and other obligations and focus on Him. He doesn’t demand it has to be a Sunday, or a Saturday, or one Tuesday a month. Maybe for you, like me, it’s Wednesday.