Give It A Rest!
October 27, 2021·Maureen Mejia
Psalm 127:2, a song of Solomon, reads:
“In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat — for He grants sleep to those He loves.”
I don’t know exactly what specific circumstances led Solomon to write Psalm 127, but it’s clear he understood that unless the Lord is part of everything we do, it’s done so in vain.
As a culture, there’s a lot we try to do and so much we feel the need to keep up with. We make even trivial things important and, as a result, overwork and overload ourselves to exhaustion in the name of “making a better life for myself.“ Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of verses that support God wanting us to work hard and strive for excellence. However, I believe what Solomon is trying to convey here is not that the pursuit of hard work is wrong. Where we miss out is when we don’t allow ourselves times of rest and good sleep to recharge, refocus, and trust that God knows what we need and is faithful to provide.
It wouldn’t be far-fetched to believe that Matthew had Solomon’s words in his heart when he wrote Matthew 6:26, “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”
I find myself in need of some extra rest lately, and perhaps you feel the same. The reality is that there IS a lot to get done. I want to be faithful and be a good steward of the work God has entrusted to me, but let’s not forget that God not only cares about the work, but deeply cares about the worker. “He grants sleep to those He loves!”
No matter what your situation is, let’s believe that we serve a God who knows our needs and is more than faithful to provide beyond what the work of our own hands can provide. So, let’s take a moment, be still, and trust in the Lord.
Pastor Maureen Mejia
