Day 10

Living God’s Sequence

of Work and Rest

Roger and Eileen Himes

www.ThePracticalGospel.com

Modern psychology says we need two things: (1) fulfillment today, and (2) achievement in the future. This is how they get into goal setting and striving for a better life. Goals are not bad. Jesus and Paul had goals. Goals can get out of balance, then they are bad — they can own us, instead of us owning them. But essentially, goals are not bad.

Modern pop psychology says we achieve these two things in cycles: (1) work, and (2) rest and relaxation (R & R). Thus we are mostly into a 5-day work week, plus weekends. We are creative for six months or a year, and then we vacation. The cycle is (1) work, and (2) rest. This is western thinking. Aristotle probably invented it. It is based in REWARD thinking: if you do good, then you get to rest — you get a reward.

God’s process is the opposite of this!
The gospel process is to rest first, and then work!

We can get confused looking at Genesis 1 and 2. We are told here that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth in six days, and then he rested on the seventh day. Here we also see the cycle of (1) work and (2) rest. But the truth is, you and I are not God!

God created a different sequence for you and me. He created man on the last day of creation: the sixth day. Then on the seventh day, God rested. What do you think man did? Man rested with God. Man wasn’t out working while God rested. They were in fellowship.

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GOSPEL TRUTH #19

This is a reality modern day Christians have lost, due to western thought processes. We are to rest in our Creator before we work. Thus we are told Jesus got up, long before daylight, to pray. He got alone with his Father to connect with him personally. I don’t believe he took his ‘prayer list,’ like many of us do. That’s like going to work to get things done. He just rested in God.

We begin our day when our feet hit the floor, work frantically all day, and then are too tired to connect with God and rest in him later. For us, ‘rest’ only means ‘sleep.’

Gospel rest is active, not passive. It doesn’t mean take a nap. Rest in God is where we get the power to be creative, achieve and fulfill our destinies. If we don’t rest first, — all we have to offer is our flesh.

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Jesus made us two promises. (1) He said we will have problems, or offenses (John 16:33). (2) He also said we will have people problems (Luke 18:1). REST is what gives us power to deal with both (1) problems and (2) problem people, or offenses.

If we rest in God first, then we can better respond IN God if things we don’t like happen during the day. If we don’t rest first, then all we can do is react in the flesh if bad things happen during the day.

Psychology talks in terms of the first seven years of life being such a critical time. We are largely formed during this seven year period. Our life-long perceptions, world view, self-esteem, confidence, attitudes and disposition to be loving or contentious, are largely established here.

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GOSPEL TRUTH #20

The First Seven Minutes

This is true of our days as well as our lives. The first seven minutes of the day are equally important. Each day is usually set in motion the first seven minutes. If we do not learn to gain control of our day, during the first seven minutes, then the day will take control over us.

We are told Jesus got up, a long time before daylight, and went out to pray and fellowship with his Father. I can’t tell from scripture that Jesus did this the first seven minutes or not, but it was ’long before daylight.’ The point is not to become legalistic about ’7 minutes.’ The point is to begin our day connecting with God. The problem is the first 7 years we’re not AWARE, and the first 7 minutes we’re not AWAKE!

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For many of us the first 7 minutes is almost before we’re sure we’re even alive in the morning. This is like a child before he is 7 years old — they don’t know what’s going on. But the truth is what I just said: if we don’t take control over our day, the day will control us. How the rest of our day will proceed is often determined the first seven minutes.

If your days don’t go very well, and you don’t feel you are living the abundant life each and every day. One reason is you’re not taking control over your day the first 7 minutes. You are allowing the day to take control over you. Now how do you do this? You do it by starting the day off in guilt over yesterday, — over something you didn’t do you should have done, or something you shouldn’t have done that you did. The same thing applies to things we say.

Or perhaps you begin being fearful about something you have to face today, tomorrow or later. When we begin in fear, or in guilt, then this opens the door to lots of things: stress, anxiety, worry, conflict, envy, anger, contention, and strife. Many people fight a sense of loss over unfulfilled expectations (we mistakenly call it faith). These things and more flood our thoughts and take control of us. Often times bitterness, unforgiveness and resentment set in.

What we must understand is good days just don’t happen -- not usually at least — in spite of the cliché, “Have a good day.’ We must MAKE it a good day to have a good day. Anything else is failure. To have a good day we must make good choices: good pre-determined choices, like listening for the voice of God, — connecting with God. We must remember his mercies are NEW every single morning. We must also take positive action. This is the only way to insure a good day. Our attitude must be that no one, and no thing will ruin our day!

You see, life is a test. Life squeezes us everyday — sometimes very gently, and other times until we feel we’re going to die. It usually does so by the problems and people we talked about. But Jesus PROMISED this to us, and he can’t break his promise. The bumper sticker says, “Life is just one damn thing after another — and then you die.” Our job in this test of life is to learn to RESPOND the way God wants us to.

We can’t always control what happens to us. If we try to we’ll go insane. But we can control what we think about what happens to us, and how we respond to what happens to us. The adage is true:“What happens to you, as important as it may be, is not half as important as how you respond to what happens to you.”

This deals with our attitude toward what happens in life. This leads to another adage: “Attitude is more important than reality, because attitude can change reality.” The power of the gospel changes our attitude by transforming our thoughts! The way we control our thoughts, our attitudes, our responses, and our actions is in the first 7 minutes. The process begins before our feet hit the floor — not when problems hit us over the head!

As a lawyer, I’ve tried everything I possibly can to get life to work on my terms. I’ve tried ‘brow-beating’ people, and I’ve fought with my wife, and my daughters, Lisa and Shawn. I’ve had major battles with our adopted son, Ralph. I’ve tried manipulation, intimidation, and even domination. I’ve tried praying, and even bargaining with God. I’ve done all these things and more, to get life to come to terms with my expectations and needs. I’ve also respected and counseled LOTS of folks who are trying to do the exact same thing!

LIFE does not submit to our demands, and work on our terms, and neither does GOD! Our job is to submit to life and learn to control our thoughts, attitudes, responses, and actions — beginning the first 7 minutes we’re awake in the morning. If it doesn’t start here, it usually doesn’t start at all. This is the way we learn tolerance, flexibility, and acceptance. This is the way we learn to live in the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self control.

The example of the lemon being squeezed applies here. What comes out of a lemon when you squeeze it? The answer is lemon juice. Why does lemon juice come out when you squeeze a lemon? Because that is what is inside the lemon. Similarly, what comes out of us when we get squeezed is what is inside of us. What is inside of us is put there beginning the first 7 minutes of the day.

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Now, let me give you something else to think about, in case you are ambitious. The Jewish day was 6:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. — which is unlike our midnight to midnight days. The Jew also took control of his life in the evening, starting at 6:00 P.M. We should perhaps do the same, for better, more profitable results.

There is something said for living the day as it is described in the Bible. Studies have shown that a lot of tension, stress, anxiety and worry develop in us during the evening. This is the time we relax the most. We let our ‘guard’ down. Most people watch T.V. Advertisers know this, and brainwash us with their commercials. This is when a lot of family fights occur — when we’re tired, and just want to relax, and don’t want any hassles.

Then, one of the last things most people do, before they go to bed, is to watch the late night news. What is the news filled with? Political corruption — money problems — inflation — murder — rapes — assaults — disasters — climatic problems — international conflict — terrorism. Then, we go to bed thinking about all of these things. We’re told that even our dreams are filled with all of these positive things. Is it any wonder most of us wake up in less than a positive mood?

If we would learn to control the first 7 minutes of our day, and if we would learn to control what we allow into our minds, thoughts and hearts. Plus, if we will also consider the biblical implications that days begin in the evening, not in the morning (as in our culture), we’d go a long way to living a much better, more fulfilled, more achieving life.

If we would ONLY stop watching the late night news, and read the morning headlines instead, we’d go a long ways toward having a more peaceful, more productive night’s sleep.

All of life is a matter of control and change. This is why the ninth fruit of the spirit is self control, as was already mentioned. If we will take control, and make small changes, we will see BIG results. That’s what ‘the first seven minutes’ is all about. If we will just begin here, resting in God before we work, we will sow a deeper, richer, more fruitful garden.