Lots of Things 'To-do'? 'Rest' Should Be One of Them

Where is your “to-do” list? 

Maybe it’s written on a note that hangs on your refrigerator, or a scrap of paper that you carry around in your pocket.  Does your to-do list look like a collection of “post-it” notes scattered all over the place -- on the front door as you leave your home, on the dashboard of your car, attached to your forehead? 

Maybe you’re the kind of person who never writes down a list of things to do, but you know what needs to be done -- and all of those things that you need to do are constantly on your mind.  No matter where it is, or what it looks like, I’m sure that even as you read this, you know what’s on the list.  I’m sure you also know how many things still need to be crossed off before the day is done. 

I think we can all relate to this.  In fact, I would be willing to bet that most people have these two things at work in their lives nearly all of the time: that list of things to do, and the unfinished business that goes with it-all of those things we still need to get done before we can finally take that note off of the fridge, take that scrap of paper out of our pocket, and toss all of those many post-it’s into the trash.

The story of the first “to-do” list that ever existed can be found on the first page of the Bible, and it starts with these words: “In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep.” (Genesis 1:1)  This is how the Bible begins to tell the story of how this world was created.  And it’s amazing.  In the beginning, God creates all kinds of things: light, water, dry land, plants, animals, sun, moon, stars, fruits, vegetables, people.  After creating each thing, God steps back, takes a look at what’s been created and sees that it is “good”.  This was God’s original “to-do” list: take a formless void and create a world with meaning, diversity, and beauty.

The most amazing thing about this story, to me, is how it ends.  After God had created the world, and everything in it, God stood back once more and looked at what had been made.  And this time, God saw that it was “very good”.  God had done it-turning a formless void into a creation filled with abundant life. 

What God felt in that moment must be like that sense of accomplishment -- that feeling we get when we’ve crossed something off of our own to-do list.  But here’s the interesting thing about this story: even after God has finished this creation, God still has unfinished business to take care of.  The story ends with these words: “And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested…” (Genesis 2:2) God’s work wasn’t completely finished until God rested.  God couldn’t take that list off of the fridge, or toss that scrap of paper into the trash until God took a break!

When was the last time you went to the fridge to look at the unfinished business on your “to-do” list and saw the word “rest” penciled in?  How often do you glance at that scrap of paper in your pocket, and find that you have yet to cross off something that says “take a break”?  When was the last time you woke up in the middle of the night, knowing that there was something you had forgotten to do, and that thing was “nap”? 

If you’re like me, it’s never happened.  If we took a page out God’s book, it just might start to happen more often.

From the beginning, God planned for rest to be a part of what we do.  God knows that if we don’t rest every now and then, eventually we will end up being defeated by all of those “to-do’s”. 

God created this world, and everything in it, and God made rest a part of it.  The beauty of rest is that you can add it to your list in a million different ways: you could play with your children, read to your grandchildren, see a movie with friends, cook something, grow something, savor something.  Or, you can just stop whatever “to-do” you’re in the middle of right now, and breathe and know that it is more than o.k. 

In, fact, no “to-do” list in the history of the world is complete unless it includes time for rest!  So, don’t forget to take a rest this week and thank God for it!