Running coach Jeff Galloway, a former Olympian, teaches a marathon training protocol that has a counterintuitive component to it. New and experienced marathoners are often surprised to learn that he advocates a “run/walk” strategy: alternating running for a set number of minutes with short periods of walking. The premise behind his approach is that the brief interludes of walking enable the body to recuperate briefly, equipping runners to finish their races faster than if they had run all 26.2 miles straight through.
The importance of intervals of rest isn’t limited to running. Rest helps us sustain the lengthy effort life requires. It’s something God addresses throughout the Bible, starting in the book of Exodus. In the Old Testament, the rhythms of rest were modeled after God’s work at the time of creation: to labor for six days and then keep “the seventh day [as] a sabbath to the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:10) because God “made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day” (v. 11).
As believers in Jesus, there’s no definitive prescription for how often we’re to rest (Romans 14:5-6; Colossians 2:16-17). Rest—whenever and however we enjoy it—is meant to be restorative. Choosing to rest is also an expression of trust in God, who’s faithful to supply our needs; we needn’t (and can’t) run forever.
How and when do you rest? How has God supplied your needs when you’ve rested as an expression of faith?
Father, thank You for giving me opportunities to trust You through rest.
Mount Sinai was the site of at least two great encounters with God in the Old Testament. In today’s reading (Exodus 20), we see Moses and the children of Israel encountering God and His mighty power. They’d spend about a year there before resuming their journey from slavery in Egypt to the freedom of the promised land. The other great encounter was when Elijah fled Jezebel and ended up at Mount Horeb, which many scholars are convinced was the same place as Sinai. There, God renewed Elijah’s mission and encouraged him with His own presence and care (1 Kings 19:8-13). Interestingly, these two leaders (Moses and Elijah) would meet with Jesus on another mountain in the New Testament (Luke 9:28-36) at Christ’s transfiguration, a part of His preparation for His coming suffering. The timing of that preparation is significant because in Luke 9:51 “Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem” where those sufferings awaited Him.
