Forced Rest?

When we first took down the crib and allowed my son to sleep in a ‘big boy’ bed, we encountered a great difficulty with nap and bedtime. We would tuck him in, say good night and close the door to his room. Within minutes, Jon was again back out in the hallway. He would come running to the find us. This went on for several days. When coaxing and gentle reminders were repeatedly unsuccessful, we found a need for correction to stop this behavior. Entering a time of rest should not involve constant correction, tears and the resulting stress.

After more than a week of what had now become a dreaded, daily occurrence, we devised a solution. We turned the lock around on his door. After tucking him in, saying prayers and kissing good night, we exited the room and locked the door behind us. Then we waited in the hallway to see what would happen next. Within moments we heard the pat-pat-pat of toddler feet running from the bed to the door. This was followed by the rattle of the door handle being turned. After repeated attempts to open the door, Jon retreated to the bed. This process was repeated several times over the next few minutes. Finally, he gave up and went to sleep. We had been standing in the hall during this entire process. Once sure he had gone to sleep, we quietly unlocked the door and returned to living room. After only a few days the repeated attempts ceased. The pattern that followed was that Jon would toddle over to the door, try it once and then resignedly return to bed for his nap or night’s sleep.

It then took only five minutes of waiting each day. After the tucking in, prayers and kisses we continued to lock the door. Within only a minute or two that familiar pat-pat-pat of toddler feet would be followed by the rattle-rattle of the door handle turning and the pat-pat-pat back to the bed. The door was immediately unlocked and we were able to return to our activities. We were never more than 10 feet from the door when it was locked. The simple act of preventing Jon from being able to exit the room eliminated the sometimes half hour long, tearful, stressful routine of returning him to bed for much needed rest. It was far more pleasant for both him and us. If there was a bad dream or fear of thunder outside during the night, Jon was easily able to exit his room to find comfort from us.

As the memory of this came back to me, I wondered if we are not sometimes like this with God. We tend to want to run ahead with our plans. We don’t want to miss out on anything and press ourselves beyond the exhaustion point. Sometimes the Father puts a block in our path so that we must step back and take a needed rest. This does not mean that life is over or even that our plans will never come to pass. It simply means not yet.

The Lord himself establish rest in the very first book of the Bible. Genesis 1 tells of the creation of the earth and God’s assignment to man to care for it. All this occurred in six days. “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. And God blessed (spoke good of) the seventh day, set it apart as His own, and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all His work which He had created and done.” (Genesis 2:2-3 AMP) God rested from His work and called the day holy. He also made this example for all of us to follow.

Right here in the very beginning of the Scriptures, the Lord stressed the importance of rest between activities. He could have done anything He wished to do on day seven, yet He chose to rest. He places a great importance upon that rest, calling it holy, and commands us to rest also.

Our society often does not allow much time for rest. People rush from task to task and do not provide adequate sleep for their bodies. Even our so-called downtime is often full of rushing from one activity or event to another. Simply allowing time for our minds and bodies to be restored is often not high on the priority list.

Even in our service to God we can find ourselves trying to push forward when we have not followed His plan for rest and physical restoration. There are so many to reach with the good news of Jesus Christ, that the role we play in spreading the gospel could be filled with endless activity. If we are not careful, we will push our bodies to the point of exhaustion and not be effective in our service to the Lord. For this reason, God may lock the door temporarily for us to step back, take a breath and recuperate both physically and emotionally. After this refreshing time, the opportunity to move forward in God’s work will come again. We will be able to open the door that He has unlocked and walk forward in His plan. Now we can walk with physical, emotional and spiritual energy. We will be a blessing to those around us.

When we see a door that is apparently locked and wonder why God is not allowing us to move forward, we should take note of our current state. We may actually need more sleep or relaxation with family and friends. We may need to simply hang with the Father in prayer, Bible study and worship. He will not leave the door locked forever. And though He may seem far away at these times, God is actually standing very close making sure that we get the rest we need. In any emergency we will have open access to run into His arms. There is no reason to waste our energy trying to force the door open.

So if you are asking God why you seem unable to move forward, see if He is calling you to a season of rest and take advantage of it. Tomorrow will come with all its activity and demands and you will be rested and well prepared.

“It is vain for you to rise up early, to take rest late, to eat the bread of [anxious] toil—for He gives [blessings] to His beloved in sleep.” (Psalm 127:2 AMP)