The Beloved Woman Rests by Caitlin Mallery

by Rachael Adams | Mar 24, 2022 | The Love Offering Guest Blog Series

The modern woman is extremely busy. She is hustling all the time, at work, at home, single or married, mother or not, she has a full plate and even fuller mind. The expectations placed on her by society, family, and the church are herculean. The Christian woman can easily mistake these expectations as the measure of her value.

Here’s the catch: no one will ever be satisfied with her work. The nebulous “they” will always be demanding more of her than she will be able to give.

Here’s the good news: God does not expect any of that from her.

Psalm 127:2

It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

All the things that Christian woman tries to do will not save her. All the toil is in vain if she is trying to earn God’s love because he already loves her. How do I know this? Because he gives sleep and rest to his beloved.

Each Sunday I coax and scold my children out of their pjs into some decent attire and bustle them off to church. Most weeks at least one of my children will whine about the process and ask why they need to go, why can’t they just stay home to rest. My response is that this is a place and time for mom to rest and reset her heart and soul. From singing hymns and Scripture readings to the communion table I find reminders that I am a beloved daughter of God. All the ways that I have been fighting the expectations in the week can be set aside. All the unfinished tasks and failures on my part are forgotten and forgiven. Even if we all showed up in pjs with unwashed hair, we would be welcome before God, because he loves us not for how we look, but for who he is and who he made us.

All the Christian women sitting in pews each Sunday should be finding rest for their souls and go to bed each night remembering that they are beloved daughters of God.

Work is not meant to be finished. It is cyclical and constant, changing with seasons and stages of life. Women often focus on a vague hope that someday the tasks will be completed. But no woman will be turned away from heaven’s gate because of an incomplete to-do list.

A woman who knows that she is a beloved daughter of God will be able to pause her work. At the end of the day she will crawl into the bed that never got made, confident that she has done what was needed and now God will give her sleep. She will take the Sabbath days to pause in her labors and delight in the love of God. That beloved woman will turn to the pages of Scripture not because she is trying to meet someone else’s expectations of devotional time, but because she wants to know more about the one who loves her and who she also loves.

The beloved woman is free from hustle to rest.

May you, beloved daughter of God, offer your rest to Him, as an act of love.

About the Author:

Hi, I am Caitlin, writer, poet, mom. I want to chat about the ways we can do ordinary things extraordinarily well. You can find me on Instagram sharing about poetry and the fruit of the Spirit, as well as my latest baking project, check out my podcast with my kids, Mama Bear Chats, on Spotify. And sign up for my weekly newsletter, Caitlin Chats over on Substack, where I talk about being a working mom, and all the ordinary things that make up life.