By: Tyler Cloud
Hello, LCA Community! It is my prayer that you had a restful and relaxing fall break. Although I did not go anywhere this year, I often think about the places people get away to on vacation. For some, it is the beach. The calmness of the waves and the sand provides a peaceful backdrop for us to admire the beauty of a sunset that paints the sky orange, pink, and blue. For others, it might be an old wooden cabin where we look out and marvel at the majesty of God’s towering mountain peaks as we go hiking with our families. Or, like myself, maybe you took this time to stick around town and relax while getting some things done at home. Whatever your regular rhythms were this week I hope you were able to be blessed in your rest. After all, that is how God wired us: to rest!
See, God made us in His image, to have dominion over all of His creation. Then, as we know, God rested from His work of creation. We read this in Genesis 1:26-2:3. (For visual learners, look at the semi-circle below.)
We will come back to the illustration in a minute. Have you ever asked yourself, “Why would God, the Creator of everything in heaven on earth and under the earth, need to rest?” Was God so wiped out from all that creation that He needed to kick back in His heavenly recliner and eat the first ever bag of Cheetos? No! God does not tire nor does He need rest to sustain Him. He rested from His completed work and made the Sabbath day holy to show us a structure of time and to model for us healthy and regular rhythms in our lives.
The pendulum pictured above is an illustration that represents our work-rest rhythms in our lives. We have seasons of abiding (resting) which coincide with pruning (cutting back) and God working on us in different ways in our walk with Him. When trees are pruned they are cut short so that they may grow larger and bear more fruit in future seasons. These are often our toughest times in life, where we may not quite see what God is doing or His timing may not make sense to us. This is where we can abide (rest) in Him, and help surrender our doubts and fears as we trust His plan for us.
We have all been given tasks by God to complete since Adam and Eve were tasked with working to keep the Garden of Eden sustained (Gen. 2:15). This was before sin entered the world, so this shows us that work was originally meant for us to enjoy it as a blessing from God. Ask yourself: Do you view your work as a blessing from God or a burden that has been foisted on you?
In the middle of the seasons of pruning and the seasons of fruitfulness, you see the passage of John 15:1-8. Here Jesus, calling Himself the Vine, tells us that we must stay connected to Him in order to bear fruit and see God working in our lives. Jesus commands His followers to abide (there is that word again!) in Him, because apart from Him we can do nothing. We can do no work. We can have no fulfillment. We can see no purpose. Depression among adults (and teens) is at an all-time high in America. At any given time 6% of Americans say they feel depressed. That amounts to 19,800,000 people! Those are the ones being honest. (Source: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/depression-rates-by-country)
Depression is so high because people do not know how to rest. While it is important to rest from our work, because God did it, we also need to ask God for wisdom about how to work from our rest! Both are possible and God can be glorified in both. The key is knowing where your pendulum is and being in tune with what God is trying to show you or teach you in this season. The only way that can happen is by consistent prayer and time alone with God in His Word.
So as we exit fall break and head back into our regular rhythms, whether you are in a season of abiding and pruning, or fruitfulness and growing, know that there is peace in the rest that Jesus gives us (Matt. 11:28) and purpose in the work that He has called us to!
I pray God’s blessings on all of our LCA families as we strive to follow Jesus and make Him known in our local community!
Tyler Cloud
Upper School Bible Teacher
Email Tyler
Tyler Cloud is an Upper School Bible teachers with a passion for reaching the hearts and minds of students for Christ. Some of his favorite moments working at LCA are when he is on stage speaking truth into students during chapel services and alpha camps, coaching young men on our baseball teams, and building one-on-one relationships with anyone who walks through his door. Whether you have known him for years or just a few months, you will leave his classroom feeling seen, valued, and loved.
Tyler is one of our primary authors for “The Well” series and will be providing space for our LCA family and community to be filled up with the truth of God’s word each month. Keep up with our social media pages as well as Paw Prints to stay in the know about when the next devotion will be published!
