It’s wonderful to have devotional thoughts from Rebekah Hawk this week! Take a moment and learn more about her on the contributors page.

“Mom, please?” I could tell my daughter was trying to keep the whine out of her voice. “Please? Just one game? Please? You’ve been working all morning!” She was literally begging me to sit down and play one round of Phase 10 with her. Ordinarily, I would firmly tell her that I had to get this or that done first and then we could sit down to play, but God had been working on my attitude toward resting.

Perhaps, like me, you are a task-oriented person. Almost nothing gives me more satisfaction than checking off those items on my to-do list. To-do lists have become even more important to me as a stay-at-home mom of four: to-do lists provide proof that I did, in fact, accomplish some tasks during the day though the condition of the house may not give that same impression. Being task-oriented can be an asset because I can stay focused and determined to complete a task; however, being task-oriented also means that I can easily lose sight of what’s really important. I also tend to struggle with simply being—in other words, I find it hard to rest. 

Resting, though, is an integral part of the gospel story. Christ died and rose again so that we could enter into true rest from sin, guilt, and shame. If we refuse to rest in what He did for us on the cross, we have no part in His Kingdom. Frankly, I think that resting in Christ is where we as humans are prone to struggle because resting means to stop doing and simply be. When I rest in Christ, I look at who I am positionally—a child of Almighty God, redeemed by His grace and held eternally secure by His steadfast love—not at what I have done. 

I continually (read daily) fall into the trap that if I don’t do enough things, I do not deserve to rest. I have this crazy mentality that I need to earn rest, but that is not what the Bible teaches. Psalm 127 explains what happens when we refuse to rest because we don’t think we’ve earned it. Toil (our work) becomes anxious instead of a sweet offering to our family on Christ’s behalf. 

I cannot earn the rest that Christ offers to me; instead, He gives it to me! It is mine the moment I place my faith in Him, so I need to stop acting like I can’t take a break in the middle of a busy day to play cards with my daughter. Isn’t being able to spend quality time with my children the point of staying home? 

Beloved, let’s allow ourselves to fall back into the arms of our Savior, resting in the work He has already done. His yoke is easy, and His burden light—for He does the work Himself through us. 

Oh, and she totally beat me in two rounds of Phase 10!