Prioritizing Rest

In the beginning, God prioritized rest and sleep; “and the evening and the morning were the first day.” Genesis 1:5 (see also verses 8, 13, 19, 23, 31). According to this verse, what comes first the evening or morning? God tells us the day begins with evening, or the dark part first. This is the emphasis God places upon rest; it is the beginning of our day. How well we rest largely determines how effective and efficient we will be throughout the rest of the day.

God created our body to rest and then work, rest and then work and then rest. In Genesis 2:3 God set aside an entire day to enter into His rest; to remember Him as our Creator and this day He even sanctified, meaning, He made it holy time: “And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.”

I remember as a young Christian reading through the Old Testament and coming to the realization: God wants us to experience daily rest (Genesis 1), weekly rest (Genesis 2:3), monthly rest (Leviticus 15:19 – wow! Don’t you think us women would do well if we had a complete break from cleaning, cooking, and looking after the children, etc. during our cycle? How refreshing would that be?!), and God ordained periods of rest throughout the year (Leviticus 16 and 23). God really wants us to rest, trusting Him to take care of us (Matthew 6:25-34). We need Spiritual Revival to keep our Spiritual focus – so God ordained various spiritual encounters and asked His people to participate in a minimum of three rests (spiritual retreats) a year (Exodus 23:17; Deuteronomy 16:16).

In Psalm 127:2 we read: “It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrow: for so He giveth His beloved sleep.” It is a health-destroying habit to treat the night hours as day, burning the “midnight oil”. The body needs precious sleep to be refreshed for the day’s duties. Studies show that those who have a regular routine for sleeping, getting 7-9 hours of sleep, lived longer, better quality lives than those who slept less or more than 7-9 hours a night or had no consistency in a sleep schedule.

If you lose one hour of sleep each night for a week, at the end of the week you will have lost the equivalent of a whole night’s sleep. If you habitually deprive your body of adequate sleep and rest, you will be “living on the edge” with little resistance to fight disease and stress. The brain suffers from lack of proper rest first and has a domino effect downward on the rest of the body’s organs and functions. Adults need 7-9 hours/night, Children need 9-12 hours/night.

Reasons for Sleep Deprivation:	Effects of Sleep Deprivation:
Television and Internet surfing, etc.	Decreased endurance
Entertainment and sports	Weakened immune system/more illness
Overwork/night-shifts	Decreased mental efficiency
Stress and Anxiety	Difficulty concentrating
Noisy environments	Short-term memory loss
Medication	Increased depression risk
Stimulant intake (caffeine, sugar, etc.)	Moody, more irritable
Sedentary lifestyle	More accident-prone
Heavy supper or late-night snacking	Fatigue and lack of energy
Dehydration	Brain fog

Sleep and Rest are essential to maintain a well-balanced mind and healthy body. Through sleep nature restores our vigor and strength. Rest renews energy by cleaning up, clearing out, and puts things in order; waste products are removed, repairs are made, enzymes are replenished, energy is restored.

When we sleep our blood pressure lowers, pulse decreases, rate of breathing decreases, temperature drops slightly, and the body is rejuvenated and weight is lost! Rest strengthens the immune system and aids in the healing of injuries, infections and other aliments assaulting the body, including stress and emotional traumas. These are all the things God wants to do for us on a nightly basis, and He also wants to daily do the same thing for us spiritually.

Ecclesiastes 5:12 tells us, “The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rick will not suffer him to sleep.” This life is not about work and money and material possessions – it is about Trusting God and entering into His Rest (Hebrews 4) and helping others to do the same; by living and telling what we know and have experienced of the grace of Christ.

Don’t you think it time to make sleep a priority?

In our Start a New YOU!® Program we pull together Ten Essentials for Health™ that can help you have your best rest. Schedule a free interview today, to see if our Start a New YOU!® Program is a right fit for you.

Wishing you Abundant Health Now and Always.

Blue Skies,

Dana

Dana West, RDN, LD, ACLMDIP thrives on helping her amazing clients get a new lease on life by embracing health and conquering disease, through learning to cooperate with God, Our Chief Physician and His saving health plan (Psalm 67:1-2 KJV), one step at a time, so they can live with renewed energy and enthusiasm doing all the things they love to do again, just as God intended for them.

You can get a new lease on life too, in her Start a New YOU!® Online Program. Details Here