What happens to the world when God takes a rest?

Today's passage from the second chapter of Genesis chapter 2 talks about God resting: "By the seventh day God had finished his work. On the seventh day, he rested from all his work." (Genesis 2:2-3 MSG) It is interesting to imagine the Maker of all things taking a break: maybe having a snooze out on one of the sandbars at Mission Flats or leaning back on a cool glacier in the Columbia Ice Fields.

I tend to take more comfort in God being active then God resting. One of my go-to Psalms for hospital visits is Psalm 121. The psalmist confronts our anxiety with the promise that "he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. (Psalm 121:3-4 NIV) I like the idea of a vigilant God that doesn't take his hands off the wheel, even if that means forgoing some time for rest. I like the idea of a God who is continually battling evil and upholding good.

But our God doesn't seem to be afflicted by my anxieties. In their commentary on the Ten Commandments, Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon note that "Even God trusted all that God had created enough to be confident that the world would continue while God rested." (The Truth About God, 57) Maybe I need to place more trust in both God and the good order that God has created. And if God feels confident enough to take a rest in one day out of seven, surely I can have the faith to do so too.