It is an add on the "backing off" post. Pastor How preached an extraordinary message on "Rest in God" today. Amazing insights I learnt today that I wanna pen down to share and remember. 3 main things I learnt.
1) There was evening and morning even before the sun and moon were created!
V.13 "And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day." (Genesis 1:13 NIV)
"God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day." (Genesis 1:16-19 NIV)
When the sun and moon were created, it was the fourth day! This means that the concept of "day" has already been in place before these two great stars were designed and put into orbit by God!
God has an internal, eternal clock! Night and day is not a product of sunrise and sunset! The concept of "day" has always been there!
God just used the sun and moon as a physical indicator of this concept called "day" which are actually bite-sized pieces of another concept called "time".
So yeah, this concept of "day", "week" and "month" has already been theorized before the sun and moon came into being.
I've read Genesis a gazillion times and I've never stumbled on this truth! This is probably because I was just reading, not studying the Word.
2) Why did God rest on the 7th day?
Was He exhausted? Did He go "Wow, this creating thing is so tiring!" and then crashed on the 7th day? Of course not! He could go on working for all eternity!
So WHY did God rest on the 7th day?
Here's why. God rested on the 7th day to teach Adam the concept of rest! Here's how...
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them...God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. (Genesis 1:27, 31 NIV)
God created mankind on the 6th day. So when is mankind's first day? When Adam and Eve actually opened their eyes, get used to their skin and learnt how to use their limbs, it would've been the 7th day - the day God rested; Sabbath day.
Excited with their newfound existence, Adam and Eve would've probably asked "God what should we do today?"
And God would've probably replied "Nothing. All that needs to be done has been done. Just rest in my presence and fellowship with Me."
So the first day of the week for mankind was actually, SUNDAY! Your week begins with rest! It's where you find strength, hope, peace, patience, vision, purpose, love and get your systems totally refreshed before you face the rest of the week!
And then after the first day of your week, you face the second day of the week - Monday. That's when you start working and drawing from the "mana" pool or your battery that you've charged over your 1st day.
We all say our week starts on Monday. But in the order of creation, mankind's week starts on Sunday, the 7th day, the rest day, the Sabbath day.
Your week begins with rest in God where you are refilled with love, hope, peace, patience, vision, etc...
When you understand this natural concept, a supernatural increase and breakthrough will happen in your life!
So when God rested, it was to commemorate His perfect work, it was a way to show that He has finished what He intended to do.
Genesis 1:31 "God saw all that He had made and it was very good..."
For us, all we have to do is worship Him and commemorate all He has done and will be doing. Thus prayer and worship is a form of resting.
3) When men rest, God works. When men work, God rests.
Genesis 2:21 - 22 "So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man."
When we rest, God works!
Rest in God doesn't mean we don't work, but it means knowing when to stop work.
It means we do our best and knowing that our best is not enough and we rest and say "God, I've done what I can in the day, You do what I cannot in the night."
So don't overwork yourself. When you overwork yourself through the night, the night passes super slowly. But when you rest at night, it passes by very quickly.
Because night is God's domain! You need to rest and let God do what He must while you rest!
Nothing is in our control! We do what we must and can with all our heart and once we've exhausted our means, we humble ourselves and come before God and say "God I've done what I can, now You do what I cannot."
Ps How used the exact two words in my previous post: "back off". He also used the seed-planting analogy:
In our primary school days, we all plant our tao-gei in the cotton wool in our science experiment.
You get excited and you drown your bean in water and watch and observe it. BUT it doesn't grow!
Then you give up and go to sleep and the next day, there is progress! There is growth!
When you painstakingly fix your eyes on it and watch it, it doesn't grow. But when you rest and let nature take it course, it grows! Staring at it won't help it grow faster. It'll only tire you out and wear your patience thin!
God is the one who gives the increase!
BUT YOU HAVE TO PLANT THE SEED.
If you plant nothing, you'll get nothing! God does not work with zeros! You plant a 0, you get 0. But if you plant at least something, say, '1', you'll get something!
You plant nothing - 0
0 multiplied by 1000 = 0
0 multiplied by infinity = 0
You plant something minimally - 1
1 multiplied by 1000 = 1000
1 multiplied by infinity = infinity
1 multiplied by God = God
Throughout the old testament, you'll see that it is the Lord who gives the increase. You can work and toil your whole life, but until God gives the increase, all your labour is vain.
Genesis 48:4 "I am going to make you fruitful and will increase your numbers.."
How Ps How got the place for Heart of God church in Singpost is also God's provision! He actually got a friend who recommended a real estate agent for Singpost. But that real estate agent got angry with Ps How's negotiation for a better price and stomped off.
What next? What could he do? But pray, wait and rest in God.
Next thing he knew, one of the board members introduced him to the vice-president of Singpost at an event and he got the rental space in Singpost without going through a real estate agent and paying extra fees!
What did Ps How and Ps Lia do? Nothing. They just waited and rest and trust in God and God in His sovereign and perfect timing brought the increase!
This is a concept I'm grappling with now. 4 years back when God told me to drop my ministry appointments one by one and to strip me of all the titles that defined my relationship with Him, He's been teaching me this one thing - rest.
Something very foreign to all the hurried, kan-chiong and achievement-crazy Singaporeans.
We strive so hard, fight so fierce and work ourselves weary only to hit a dead end...because we fail to realize that we are not in control of life - we can't control who we meet, how people respond and what can happen to us in life.
Same it is for me, I always try really hard to convince people, debating and trying to just get things done. But sometimes, until the time is right, nothing will move.
Colossians 1:17 "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."
It all hinges on God and His perfect and sovereign timing.
Yep, for me now, I gotta REST and back-off cos I've been working too hard in my strength.
It's hard when I'm such a workaholic, vision-minded, pragmatic and get-things-done-ASAP kinda person.
But I gotta slow down my pace, rest, die to myself - my self sufficiency and fall in love with my Saviour all over again.
"Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me."
John 12:24-26
Yeah, please pray for me. It's not an easy season. Many things God is using to test my convictions and many things and people who I deem dear to me He is stripping off my life so that I might not rely on people for joy, acceptance and love.
I know all these. But knowing and going through such things are worlds apart.
But I know at the end of all these, He will provide me friends that'll stride with me, love me and do great things for God alongside me.
So many things to say and write but I do not have enough time to distill and pen all my thoughts.
So this is it for now. I will press on, hold on and give my all until I see His face at the end of this race.
I hereby pledge my allegiance to You again Lord, I am Yours. Take me, break me, mould me and use me for all that You intended me to be.
God has an internal, eternal clock! Night and day is not a product of sunrise and sunset! The concept of "day" has always been there!
God just used the sun and moon as a physical indicator of this concept called "day" which are actually bite-sized pieces of another concept called "time".
So yeah, this concept of "day", "week" and "month" has already been theorized before the sun and moon came into being.
I've read Genesis a gazillion times and I've never stumbled on this truth! This is probably because I was just reading, not studying the Word.
2) Why did God rest on the 7th day?
Was He exhausted? Did He go "Wow, this creating thing is so tiring!" and then crashed on the 7th day? Of course not! He could go on working for all eternity!
So WHY did God rest on the 7th day?
Here's why. God rested on the 7th day to teach Adam the concept of rest! Here's how...
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them...God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. (Genesis 1:27, 31 NIV)
God created mankind on the 6th day. So when is mankind's first day? When Adam and Eve actually opened their eyes, get used to their skin and learnt how to use their limbs, it would've been the 7th day - the day God rested; Sabbath day.
Excited with their newfound existence, Adam and Eve would've probably asked "God what should we do today?"
And God would've probably replied "Nothing. All that needs to be done has been done. Just rest in my presence and fellowship with Me."
So the first day of the week for mankind was actually, SUNDAY! Your week begins with rest! It's where you find strength, hope, peace, patience, vision, purpose, love and get your systems totally refreshed before you face the rest of the week!
And then after the first day of your week, you face the second day of the week - Monday. That's when you start working and drawing from the "mana" pool or your battery that you've charged over your 1st day.
We all say our week starts on Monday. But in the order of creation, mankind's week starts on Sunday, the 7th day, the rest day, the Sabbath day.
Your week begins with rest in God where you are refilled with love, hope, peace, patience, vision, etc...
When you understand this natural concept, a supernatural increase and breakthrough will happen in your life!
So when God rested, it was to commemorate His perfect work, it was a way to show that He has finished what He intended to do.
Genesis 1:31 "God saw all that He had made and it was very good..."
For us, all we have to do is worship Him and commemorate all He has done and will be doing. Thus prayer and worship is a form of resting.
3) When men rest, God works. When men work, God rests.
Genesis 2:21 - 22 "So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man."
When we rest, God works!
Rest in God doesn't mean we don't work, but it means knowing when to stop work.
It means we do our best and knowing that our best is not enough and we rest and say "God, I've done what I can in the day, You do what I cannot in the night."
So don't overwork yourself. When you overwork yourself through the night, the night passes super slowly. But when you rest at night, it passes by very quickly.
Because night is God's domain! You need to rest and let God do what He must while you rest!
Nothing is in our control! We do what we must and can with all our heart and once we've exhausted our means, we humble ourselves and come before God and say "God I've done what I can, now You do what I cannot."
Ps How used the exact two words in my previous post: "back off". He also used the seed-planting analogy:
In our primary school days, we all plant our tao-gei in the cotton wool in our science experiment.
You get excited and you drown your bean in water and watch and observe it. BUT it doesn't grow!
Then you give up and go to sleep and the next day, there is progress! There is growth!
When you painstakingly fix your eyes on it and watch it, it doesn't grow. But when you rest and let nature take it course, it grows! Staring at it won't help it grow faster. It'll only tire you out and wear your patience thin!
God is the one who gives the increase!
BUT YOU HAVE TO PLANT THE SEED.
If you plant nothing, you'll get nothing! God does not work with zeros! You plant a 0, you get 0. But if you plant at least something, say, '1', you'll get something!
You plant nothing - 0
0 multiplied by 1000 = 0
0 multiplied by infinity = 0
You plant something minimally - 1
1 multiplied by 1000 = 1000
1 multiplied by infinity = infinity
1 multiplied by God = God
Throughout the old testament, you'll see that it is the Lord who gives the increase. You can work and toil your whole life, but until God gives the increase, all your labour is vain.
Genesis 48:4 "I am going to make you fruitful and will increase your numbers.."
How Ps How got the place for Heart of God church in Singpost is also God's provision! He actually got a friend who recommended a real estate agent for Singpost. But that real estate agent got angry with Ps How's negotiation for a better price and stomped off.
What next? What could he do? But pray, wait and rest in God.
Next thing he knew, one of the board members introduced him to the vice-president of Singpost at an event and he got the rental space in Singpost without going through a real estate agent and paying extra fees!
What did Ps How and Ps Lia do? Nothing. They just waited and rest and trust in God and God in His sovereign and perfect timing brought the increase!
This is a concept I'm grappling with now. 4 years back when God told me to drop my ministry appointments one by one and to strip me of all the titles that defined my relationship with Him, He's been teaching me this one thing - rest.
Something very foreign to all the hurried, kan-chiong and achievement-crazy Singaporeans.
We strive so hard, fight so fierce and work ourselves weary only to hit a dead end...because we fail to realize that we are not in control of life - we can't control who we meet, how people respond and what can happen to us in life.
Same it is for me, I always try really hard to convince people, debating and trying to just get things done. But sometimes, until the time is right, nothing will move.
Colossians 1:17 "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."
It all hinges on God and His perfect and sovereign timing.
Yep, for me now, I gotta REST and back-off cos I've been working too hard in my strength.
It's hard when I'm such a workaholic, vision-minded, pragmatic and get-things-done-ASAP kinda person.
But I gotta slow down my pace, rest, die to myself - my self sufficiency and fall in love with my Saviour all over again.
"Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me."
John 12:24-26
Yeah, please pray for me. It's not an easy season. Many things God is using to test my convictions and many things and people who I deem dear to me He is stripping off my life so that I might not rely on people for joy, acceptance and love.
I know all these. But knowing and going through such things are worlds apart.
But I know at the end of all these, He will provide me friends that'll stride with me, love me and do great things for God alongside me.
So many things to say and write but I do not have enough time to distill and pen all my thoughts.
So this is it for now. I will press on, hold on and give my all until I see His face at the end of this race.
I hereby pledge my allegiance to You again Lord, I am Yours. Take me, break me, mould me and use me for all that You intended me to be.
I love You Jesus, always :)
Hi Jon Lee,
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