God has so arranged the world that work is necessary, and He gives us hands and strength to do it. The enjoyment of leisure would be nothing if we had only leisure. It is the joy of work well done that enables us to enjoy rest, just as it is the experiences of hunger and thirst that make food and drink such pleasures.
God rested on the seventh day not because of exhaustion but in order to take pleasure in the creation.
While the Lord desires that we enjoy His gifts and His people, He would have us know we were created first for His pleasure.
Evil’s greatest triumph may be its success in portraying religion as an enemy of pleasure when, in fact, religion accounts for its source: every good and enjoyable thing is the invention of a Creator who lavished gifts on the world.”
― Philip Yancey
Seeing God as parent may seem childish. But might there be, in the unadmitted sparkle of the child within you, a sometime longing to climb into God’s fatherly lap, …to nestle against God’s breast, to rest for a moment in the shadow of God’s wings or be held in God’s strong and tender arms? If you could allow yourself to feel it, are there not times when you would love to cry on God’s shoulder, to let God tell you you are worthwhile and beautiful? And is there not something in you that would be delighted if you could bring a smile to God’s face?