Faces on Faith: We are creatures and God is the creator
Isn’t it interesting that God designed us to need sleep and rest? Respite is not optional. We all know the costs of not getting enough sleep, or working too much with no break: lowered immunity, decreased mental functioning, high blood pressure, depression and more. Man cannot live on adrenaline and coffee alone. Actually, amazing things happen when we rest. Our bodies heal. Our brains process information and experiences. As the Psalms say, we are fearfully and wonderfully made.
I recently took some much needed vacation after my first year of pastoring on Sanibel. I have learned over the years to always use my vacation days. One of the perils of pastoral ministry is burnout. Pastors can work themselves to a point of debilitating exhaustion because there’s always more to do, and it’s God’s work so shouldn’t we give it our all?
But there’s one little detail that pastors — and non-pastors — tend to forget: we’re not God. There is not a god within us that we can tap into to transcend our human condition. We are creatures, and God is the creator. God is God, and we aren’t.
And God made us sleep-dependent in part to remind us of this distinction. Just as we are dependent on food, water, and air to live, so we need rest. And we need God. Is it surprising that people sometimes turn to God in their lowest points? It’s often when we are exhausted or despairing or ill that we can no longer pretend that we are little gods in control of our little worlds.
When we come to grips with our limitations and inabilities — physical, emotional and spiritual — we are ready to hear God’s good news. That good news is that God has made a way for us to be reconciled to him. And all we have to do is rest in the work God has done. God himself has provided a means of forgiveness and salvation by becoming one of us in the person of Jesus. Jesus did the heavy lifting on the cross in order to pay for our sins. As a result, salvation is not something we construct from the ground up, but something we receive and rest in by faith.
As Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Pastor Jeramie Rinne is the senior pastor at the Sanibel Community Church.