DAY SIX
Rest

Imagine a world where the day starts as the sun goes down. Your very first action of the brand new day is not to wake up and get busy doing things, but to take a few moments to quiet down, relax, and then go to sleep. By the time you wake up in the morning, you are halfway through the day. Now, you start your active routine – going to school, doing your chores, playing games with friends. The last thing you do in your day (depending on what time the sun goes down) is eat supper, talking and laughing with family and friends. And just when the sun goes down, a new day begins.

Does that sound weird? Maybe a little bit backwards?

Actually, it sounds very Biblical. Look at Genesis 1:3-5

When God created the world, he started by creating light. He separated light and darkness. Then, He gave them names: “God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And now, the description of the first day: “There was morning followed by evening on the first day.” Is that what it says? Umm, not quite.

Here's what it really says: “And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.”

Because of this, Jewish people believe the day begins at sundown. Rest is so important that it's the first thing on the “to do” list EVERY DAY! It is certainly different from how we think about our day – we start “bright and early,” so that we can get lots done. Some people brag about “running on 5 hours of sleep.” A few say sleep is “a waste of time.” We work, work, work, with little time for rest. Even you kids are busy with ALL sorts of activities; soccer, musical theatre, choir, swimming, school, chores… WHEW!

We forget that in resting, we prepare for work.

When we spend time with God, we are preparing to do work in His Kingdom. How can we know what to do if we have not spent time talking, sitting, listening to and getting to know our King? Spiritual rest can be a time to connect with our King, receiving instructions about what to do, correction for sin in our lives, or just building our relationship with Him.

We forget that in resting, we trust that God is at work.

When I was getting ready to write this, I was looking up lots of verses that have the word “rest” in them. I was surprised to realize how many verses that mention “rest” or “quietness”, are connected to God's “marvellous” or amazing ways.

For example, in Isaiah 30:15, God tells Israel to “Calm down!” because He wanted to do something AMAZING for them, to help them and rescue them from an enemy trying to destroy them. It was something they could never do on their own.

Look up Psalm 46 (CEV). Read it out loud and as you do picture what is happening here.
“God is our mighty fortress,
always ready to help in times of trouble.
And so, we won't be afraid!
Let the earth TREMBLE and the
mountains TUMBLE into the deepest sea.
Let the ocean ROAR and foam,
and its RAGING waves shake the mountains”

This is absolute CHAOS!

The earth is falling apart, but God says this: “Be still, and know that I am God.” I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.” (Ps. 46:10, NIV). It's like He's saying, “Don't worry, guys. I got this one covered. Just chill out – I'm big enough to save you. And when I do, everyone in the whole world is going to be talking about how great I am!”

This is why God can say “He gives sleep to those He loves.” It's because He is the One in control. When He wakes us up and tells us to move, we obey. But when it's His turn to take action, we can rest without worrying. We can have complete confidence in Him. Even though WE are resting, God is at work.

Can you think of another time that rest shows up right at the very beginning? What did God do after he created the world and the stars and people and rabbits and carrots and trees and goldfish…You got it… He rested! God shows us by example that rest is important when He takes time on the seventh day to rest. Look at Genesis 2:2 -“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.”

This time, rest is a time to enjoy God and all that He has created. The word rest in Genesis 2:2 can also be translated as “celebrate”. Did you know that when Jesus was on earth He celebrated the Sabbath, or the seventh day, each week? See God didn’t create us to be work machines but wanted us to stay focused on what was important. The Sabbath was one day a week set apart…where did you hear that before…right! - In day one of the call… consecrate, kept HOLY. One day a week when we are not too busy, and have all the time in the world for each other, to enjoy what God has made and to spend extra time with Him. One day where we remember that it is God who provides for us anyways.

Let me tell you a story. In 1998 I was leading a team of kids and young people to Quebec. God had spoken to us that he wanted us to go there to pray that the walls of misunderstanding and hurt between the French people in Quebec and the English people in the rest of Canada would fall down. We knew that we couldn’t do it but God could. Just like Joshua couldn’t push down the walls of Jericho, but God could. One of the kids, a 9 year old girl, had seen a HUGE wall between Quebec and the rest of Canada while we were praying. She had felt that if we went there and prayed and said the Lord’s Prayer that the wall would come down. So next year a group of kids from all over Canada did just that, and prayed. “Thy Kingdom Come they will be done in Canada as it is in heaven,” right at the border between Quebec and Ontario. (You can check out some of the stories about the One Heart Gathering on the Watchmen site to se how God answered that prayer)

A few days later, in Montreal we were really tired. We were staying in a place that we WERE thankful for, but there were 24 of us and there was only one bathroom, and no beds, (we slept on the floor), and a stove with only one burner. Also because of where the house was a lot of dust blew into the room and the floors were covered with dirt. I was tired and discouraged and crying by myself. As I opened the Bible and prayed God led me to a verse in Joshua 1: 13 “The Lord your God gives you rest, and will give you the land.” Have you ever had a verse in the Bible just JUMP out at you? Well that one did. I shared it with the other people on the team later and we prayed that God would do just that.

Later that day we went to Mount Royal and prayed and God was SO close to us there. When we came back to the place where we were staying, Ruth, one of the team leaders was jumping up and down. She said “I have seen the Light!!! You should see where we are going! Someone called and said that they had heard about our team and wanted to know if we would like to stay at the Salvation Army Center down town. They have SHOWERS, and 10 bathrooms, and a commercial kitchen and mattresses, not only little ones but QUEEN SIZED mattresses with PILLOW tops.” I had never slept on such a thing before. EXTRAVAGENT They had been donated to the center during the Ice storm that happened the winter before and had never been picked up!”
So that night we RESTED. We also celebrated! Do you know what else met us when we got there? BOXES and BOXES of chocolate cakes, and Twinkies and candies had been given us! What do you think the kids were more
excited about? You got it the cakes and candy. God wanted us all to rest and celebrate.

ACTIVITY: Practice resting

1. Choose a verse from the Bible that speaks about God’s love for you, that encourages you or tells you a little more about who He is. Write it on a piece of paper and spend some time quietly thinking about that verse and what God is saying to you through it. How does the verse make you feel? Does it make you feel safe? Does it make you feel strong? Talk to him about it. Carry the verse with you all day as a reminder.
   Here are some examples of verses you could copy:

(1 Peter 5: 7) Let him have all your worries and cares, for He is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you.

(Is. 49: 1) The Lord called me from the womb; from the body of my mother He named me.

(Jeremiah 29:11) For I know the plans that I have for you plans for good and not harm, to give you a future and a hope.

2. Did you know that there are MANY different names of God in the Bible that tell us what He is like? Each of them shows us something different about Him. Some of them are: Faithful One, A rock, Our Provider, God of all comfort, the Good shepherd, the prince of peace, Our Shield, Our Saviour. Can you think of others? Take one of these names and think about what they might mean. For Example, Faithful One means that God is always the same and will always be there for you. He will never let you down. Thank Him for that and let these thoughts go deep down into your heart. Talk about this as a family and the names that are special to each one.
3. Take time today to celebrate. What do you enjoy doing together?

Print off the doodle art picture below, you can copy and paste it into a word document and enlarge it first. See how many groups of 7 you can find. Can you find the little mouse? Color it in.

Sketch by Rosalind Amorin from the book “the Blessing”

This post was pulled together by a number of people: Stephanie, Rosalind, and Carolin. The story includes what Ruth and Kristy-Anne and Anne discerned. Together we hear so much better. Each of us gets a piece of the puzzle and when we lay down the pieces we get the whole picture. If you check out the blog, www.kidsofthekingarise.blog.com the last 3 entries in Keys of the kingdom are teachings on hearing God’s voice. The last post under Daniel Prayer group for Monday the 6th is an activation teaching on hearing God’s voice corporately. You may want to check it out and take some time to come together as a family or Sunday school and go through the steps and see what God tells you. Kids, it would be wonderful if you could share what you hear at carolin@watchmen.org You see all across Canada adults are sharing what they are hearing but no kids have shared. We need to change that and hear what God tells you as well. You carry an important piece of the puzzle!