Fruitfulness, fun, and rest, Part II (fun!)

Fun...
In the balance of our lives, there’s the  fun component.  Somehow, we tend to relegate fun to the less necessary, idle aspect of our lives...the wasting time compartment.  There definitely are time-wasters that can regretfully consume huge portions of our day (online black holes in time, too much television, digital games we play ad nauseum, etc.), but I believe these are different than what we referred to as play when we were young.  Have we forgotten how to play as adults?

When I was young in the 50’s and early 60’s, we used to play outside most of the day. We would invent new games almost on a daily basis. We rode our bikes, played games with balls, made up imaginary role-play scenarios, set up scenes with various toys, built structures with blocks, played board games (sometimes playing both sides), climbed trees, read books, and colored pictures. Creativity and imagination played large roles in our day.

God is Creator, as well as Saviour, Giver, Comforter and Guide. I believe He delights in the elements of play and creating in our lives, even (especially?) when we’re of an age where it’s more difficult to get our bodies to do what we want them to. [I’ve nixed learn to play guitar from my lengthy retirement activity list, since my arthritic hands are uncooperative.] For Him, we are still the young person we always were, despite our outer appearance. He still enjoys watching us play, the same way we enjoy watching our own children play. [I still love hearing my grown kids have fun and laugh together.]

The Father told me recently that Play keeps our hearts younger and more tender. He warned me not to let my heart grow brittle and cold as I aged.. I discovered He's all for fun, in balance. So have some fun! Do a puzzle, read a book aloud with different voices for the characters, play a board game that fosters laughter (no cut-throat competitions). [Ever played Apples to Apples?] Watch or listen to an old children’s classic*.  Recently I’ve had the urge to revisit Narnia (in both print and film Use your phone to record family members and friends answering fun questions. Ever play Would you Rather...?..or Coke or Pepsi? Ask those you love a question from their childhood. [What was your favorite board game? Birthday cake? Toy? Vacation? Christmas memory? Ice cream? Outdoor game? Best memory with your mom...your dad?...with your sibling?  Or even, what was your most difficult time?

It’s amazing what you’ll find about about those you may have known for a very long time. You hear their 💕  It will also help you know how to pray for them.  Are their wounds from the past that need healing? [See Fruitfulness in Part I.]. God loves hearing you share your heart, too. You'll find that Play, then, can also  become an aspect of  Rest*.
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*Listen to the language..the expression and vocabulary in the children's classics, and you'll see how far current writing has deteriorated in this light.  Try something like The Secret Garden or an adventure from an earlier century from authors like Alexander Dumas or Robert Louis Stevenson.  Read aloud a classic story to your grandchildren, in installments. Make it come alive for them.  

**Watch for Part III, where we explore the various forms of Rest.

Fruitfulness, fun, and rest, Part III (Rest)

Rest

This morning I was prompting myself to pursue the last of our trio of topics, Rest. Although I’ve written and spoken about this topic before, I wanted to receive fresh insight from the Lord about it. When I created the title of this three-part post, I had not yet reached Hebrews in my current (oft-repeated) journey through the epistles.  As I opened today to where I had left off yesterday, I found myself in Hebrews 3 & 4.  Lo and behold (drum roll, please), I found it to be all about God’s rest. Don’t you just love it when that happens? God is so eager to answer our questions, so delighted we are delving into His Word, that it’s as if He opens the Bible to the right page and sets it in our lap. 

Now, we’ve been discussing fruitfulness, fun, and rest.  Obviously, this is the section on Rest, but truthfully, all these three aspects of our lives intersect. Additionally, there are multiple uses of the term Rest. Being fruitful and having fun can also produce rest in their own ways. 

Isn’t it interesting how exhilaration and productivity are often followed by a sense of relaxation and rest? After we tense our muscles, for example, we’re more conscious of their not being tensed.  I usually don’t want to do my exercise routine, but after I do, I feel both invigorated and relaxed. Looking at this in the different context of our spiritual lives:  After we’ve worked diligently to be constructive and fruitful, there is a sense of deeper rest that follows.  More so than if we were simply inert. Inertia isn’t the kind of rest we’re after, is it?  In fact, the couch potato life usually makes us feel sluggish and discontented.     

A good, deep sleep is also a gift designed by God to help heal our bodies, assist our souls in processing the events of the day, and bring us restoration and re-invigoration. A refreshing ‘power nap’ can also be a blessing, for those who can take advantage without waking up groggy and disoriented. Just drifting in the midst of the chapter of a good book can carry us into needed rest.

When God speaks of entering His Rest in Hebrews 3 and 4+, He isn't discussing sleep patterns, is He?  His deep and abiding Rest involves our souls and spirits in a state of Shalom.  Not just eternal rest in Heaven (although that is absolutely implied), but in this life on earth, in the midst of often chaotic circumstances...no matter what is happening at the moment.  This rest involves a bedrock faith and certainty that, as He promises in Hebrews, He will never, no never, no never forsake us.**

Just sitting still in His Presence; not necessarily saying anything, but simply opening our hearts and spirits to Him and waiting on Him; bring His Rest.  Our heartbeats slow, our breathing deepens, and we are enveloped by the cloud of His Love.  The sunshine streaming through the window onto our shoulders becomes a caress from His hand.  Finally, that elusive peace we've desired takes up residence in us.

Every form of rest (through play, fruitfulness, sleep, quiet time with Him...) are all a gift from Him.  We need the balance of work, fun, and rest in our lives for our triune beings to be healthy.  When it's time for us to enter into His forever Rest in Heaven, we'll experience fun, fruitfulness, and relaxation there, too; but to a depth He says we can't now even imagine in our mind's eye.  Don't plan on being bored on a cloud somewhere....you're going to be resting in His permanent Shalom in the midst of fruitfulness, creativity, and fun.  I can't wait.  He's even promised me visits to The Hundred Acre Wood. What special place would you like to visit with Him?  Ask Him about it.  I bet you'll hear a delighted chuckle and a promise in response.

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He offers a resting place for me in his luxurious love. His tracks take me to an oasis of peace, the quiet brook of bliss.  --Psalm 23:2     [The Passion Translation]

Now God has offered to us the same promise of entering into his realm of resting in confident faith. So we must be extremely careful to ensure that we all embrace the fullness of that promise and not fail to experience it. For we have heard the good news of deliverance just as they did, yet they didn’t join their faith with the Word. Instead, what they heard didn’t affect them deeply, for they doubted. For those of us who believe, faith activates the promise and we experience the realm of confident rest!  --Hebrews 4:1-3  (+ all of chapters 3 & 4)

My heart and soul explode with joy—full of glory! Even my body will rest confident and secure.  --Psalm 16:9

I say to myself, “If only I could fly away from all of this! If only I could run away to the place of rest and peace.  --Psalm 55:6

O Lord our God, let your sweet beauty rest upon us and give us favor. Come work with us, and then our works will endure, and give us success in all we do.  --Psalm 90:17

Now I can say to myself and to all, “Relax and rest, be confident and serene, for the Lord rewards fully those who simply trust in him.”    --Psalm 116:7

I am humbled and quieted in your presence. Like a contented child who rests on its mother’s lap, I’m your resting child and my soul is content in you.  --Psalm 131:2

But the one who always listens to me will live undisturbed in a heavenly peace. Free from fear, confident and courageous, you will rest unafraid and sheltered from the storms of life.   --Proverbs 1:33

You will sleep like a baby, safe and sound— your rest will be sweet and secure.  --Proverbs 3:24

...because God is your confidence in times of crisis, keeping your heart at rest in every situation.   --Proverbs 3:26

For the Lord will never walk away from his cherished ones, nor would he forsake his chosen ones who belong to him.   ---Psalm 94:14

By contrast, we have already come[ad] near to God in a totally different realm, the Zion-realm,[ae] for we have entered the city of the Living God, which is the New Jerusalem in heaven![af] We have joined the festal gathering of myriads of angels in their joyous celebration!   --Hebrews 12:22

“I will never leave you alone, never! And I will not loosen my grip[c] on your life!”  --Hebrews 13:5b

Fruitfulness, fun, and rest, Part I (fruitfulness)

This blog post is divided into three parts, taking a look at three aspects of our lives:  fruitfulness, fun, and rest. 
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Whether you’re retired like me, or still working...or  both working and raising a family, there is always the question of balancing the various aspects of your life. When you’re younger and are juggling children, work, home maintenance, and your own times of rest, the balancing act is more obvious.  As a retired person, you look back and wonder, “How did I ever do it all?”  It  becomes obvious that God’s grace, along with His plan for the phases of our lives, was the key.

However, if you’re like many of us, you felt guilty ever sitting down and relaxing. I find that, even in retirement, I sometimes feel guilty spending too much time having fun. I think about the need to be more productive...not in growing an income, but in growing God’s kingdom. The Bible calls it fruitfulness. 

I’ve heard acquaintances refer to being bored in retirement. I can’t imagine how one could be bored with so many opportunities to create and to volunteer. So many groups and individuals need help and would be thrilled at the donation of our time. We have only to look around within a small radius to see where we could be of service.

However, fruitfulness isn’t only fostered within the context of working for free somewhere.  It’s also found in the brave conversations we have with friends, coworkers, and strangers.  It’s found in our prayer life, in the sharing of an encouraging word, in the kingdom-building gifts we give to our children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, long-term friends, and the salesclerk we met yesterday.  It’s found in our willingness to be vulnerable and bold and share the Good News without foreknowledge of how it will be received.

Has he given you gifts and talents you haven't really explored?  Maybe now is the time.  Is there a way you're longing to express your heart for Him to others?  Don't be afraid to try.  If the longing is there, He will give you the skills to pursue that avenue of expression,  I have a friend who had never painted in her life.  God showed her, right in the store, what to purchase and then how to paint,  He also showed her how to create banners for her church, when she'd never sewn before.  Don't assume you don't have the ability to create something which could bless others.  I recently heard about one woman who knits booties for newborns for Birthright, someone who raises money for books to give to children's hospitals, and another who recycles cards by using pieces to create new ones for shut-ins and other lonely or grieving people.

Ask the Father in what ways your life could be more fruitful for Him. Be bold in the asking!  But also know that the elements of fun and rest are also part of His abundant life plan for us.  [See Part II:  Fun!]