I went on a retreat a few weeks ago with my university Christian fellowship, and our theme for that retreat was rest. Many of us live quite packed lives with school, work, and other commitments, and it was a much needed time for us to take a break from that and intentionally spend time with God and each other. As I was reflecting on the retreat, I felt God say that, “Rest is an act of faith” and point me back to one of the Bible passages we studied at retreat, which was Exodus 16.
In Exodus 16, God provides for the Israelites in the wilderness by giving them manna to eat. It would appear on the ground in the morning for the people to collect, and would melt away in the sun. The Israelites were to collect what they would need for the day, as the manna would go bad the next day. However, on the sixth day of the week, they were supposed to gather twice as much as they needed. We see in Exodus 16:22-30 (NIV) that
On the sixth day, they [Israel] gathered twice as much—two omers [roughly 6 pounds] for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’”
24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 25 “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. 26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”
27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you[c] refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? 29 Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
We can see God’s intentional provision of manna that last longer enable the Israelites to rest, creating the ritual of a day of rest amongst the Israelites that continues to this day.
However, I felt God remind me that often, it’s not what comes before rest, but after rest, that hinders us from rest. The Israelites had their double manna day to free up the next day, but sometimes we don’t have that kind of security to precede our rest. The questions I often have are “Will I be all right after I take a break?” “Will my studies be alright if I pause and do something restful?” “What if the workload piles up more if I leave it for one day?” “Shouldn’t I be making the most of my time?”
God started to shift the question of “Will things be ok while I rest?” to “Will God take care of things while I rest?” Can we trust that He will hold together our hectic lives, demanding jobs, academics, children, and more while we rest and do a little less?