Originally published Wednesday, 29 November 2017.
What a joke! Refresh?! Relax?! It’s almost an insult for this type A, take-charge, got-a-million-things-to-do girl! I mean, doesn’t resting, relaxing, and refreshing, mean that you aren’t getting anything done?! I start to get anxious, just thinking about resting. Let me be honest. I LOVE the idea of rest. I love the Word refresh. I immediately think, “spa day.” But the truth is, for me, I often struggle to allow myself the luxury of rest. Maybe there are a few of you busy moms that are out there, just like me, wondering how you can possibly take the time to refresh yourselves when you already have too much to do each day.
Here’s the deal. You cannot afford not to take care of yourself. And yes, I know you have heard it before. But many of us don’t do it the way we are supposed to. For me, I have to have achieved a checklist of things to allow myself to rest. Did I help the kids with homework? Is dinner cooked? Are my clothes ironed for tomorrow? Did I plan for that business meeting next week? Did I cut the grass? My mind goes 90 to nothing – All. The. Time. So this article is as much for me as it is for you.
One of my favorite Scriptures is:
God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. Heb. 4:1
Later in the chapter, it goes on to say:
So let us do our very best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.” Heb. 4:11
There have been so many times in my life that the busyness of life has overtaken me. And when that happens, my attitude stinks. I’m rude to my kids, my co-workers, and my friends. I am tired, overwhelmed, and exhausted. But when I do my VERY best, to enter His rest, things shift. All of a sudden, I’m getting things done without even thinking about it. I’m moving through my to-do list with ease. So what’s the difference?
The difference is that I’ve intentionally taken the time for me with my Savior, in communion with Him. I purposefully set aside time to read the Word, journal my thoughts or prayers, pray throughout the day. And do you know what happens – every, single, time? My day is longer. Not literally, but spiritually. There is somehow, through no other explanation but the Holy Spirit, more time in my day to get done what needs to get done. Ladies, let your prayer time be your purposeful, positioned, time to hear from the Savior and to allow him to ease the load. Please. Read this with fresh eyes. Because I believe there is a breakthrough in simply implementing this into your life.
View your daily devotion, not as a to-do list checked off, but as an encounter with the King.
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