Momentum For Monday, December 20th 2021

“…rest awhile.” (Mark 6:31)

While I make no claim to be a science nerd or intellect, I'm sure on some general level, like me, you've probably heard of Sir Isaac Newton. He "discovered" gravity so to speak and developed theories surrounding it. He also developed something famously known as "Newton's Laws of Motion."

This isn't a science paper so I want to keep this simple to make my point, but Newton mentioned in his Law's of Motion that, "An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion remains in motion at constant speed and in a straight line unless acted on by an unbalanced force." Now, if you tend to check out when things get all academic on you, take a moment and read through it a few times to grasp the idea of rest and motion and let it sink in.

 This time of year brings a lot of motion (or work in this case), dare I even say chaos. Some of this is good for us, like seeing family, celebrating, and being charitable. Most of us even get time off to take in the celebration and holiday's. But have you ever noticed how hard it can be to stop and rest from all the chaos and busy-ness?

There're events to attend, people to shop for, groceries to get, decorations to put up…and so on. If we let it, the holiday season becomes more stress than blessing. A constant "go-go-go" mentality is really hard to break and shift gears from in order to rest and enjoy moments. Opportunities to rest become restlessness when we're not used to it. As humans, we don't have on and off switches, we need time to adjust.

Now, just remember, as much as it is hard to slow down instantly, it's also hard to gain momentum in motion again once we do stop. That's perfectly normal. We need a time of margin to start preparing to getting back into the swing of things. Constant motion with no balance of rest is unhealthy for us, but so is constant rest without motion. God created us with a need for both- rest and motion/work.

As Christmas approaches, plan some time to slow down. Create some boundaries in your day(s) to allow yourself to stop and rest. Create a buffer to adjust yourself into rest. Then also create that same space to prepare to get back into the swing of things. I'll see you next Monday to give you a little momentum to help. Merry Christmas!

“Work for six days and rest the seventh so your ox and donkey may rest and your servant and migrant workers may have time to get their needed rest.

(Exodus 23:12)