Simplify! Rest

Missed work, memory loss, car accidents, and coronary heart disease, these are just a few of the documented side effects of rest deprivation. And I feel it, don’t you? We are a society on the go. From the moment our feet touch the floor in the morning, until our minds finally stop their helicopter whirling at night, we don’t rest.

The underlying assumption we make is that because we have people to meet and places to go, intense effort and a relentless focus are our choice companions. But in doing that, we often leave our health and our God behind us in the dust.

God entices us with an entirely different tune than this world’s siren song. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10.) Be still. Return, reconnect, reinvigorate, recreate, know, and trust your God. All else will follow.

Rest

Answer this question: How does my ‘running on empty’ actually detract from what I am trying to accomplish?

A recent Obstacles to Growth Survey reports that among Christians, “Six out of ten women say they ‘sometimes,’ ‘often,’ or ‘always’ feel guilty when they relax.”

Surprisingly, this current epidemic of busyness has less to do with what we have to do then our understanding of who is responsible for doing it. In Isaiah 46:10 God says, 'My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure.' God never wearies yet He designed us to need rest. Relax and enjoy.

It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late,
To eat the bread of painful labors;
for He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.
Psalm 127:2

Action Step: Decide today to rest physically from all your routine ‘doings’ one full day a week. Mark off this day on your calendar for the next 52 weeks. Keep this time of rest sacred. It is.

Be sure to comment and to let me know how that day of rest made a difference in your week.