REST APPOINTMENT

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

“We rest in him, find our nourishment in him. His roof of grace protects us from storms of guilt. His walls of providence secure us from destructive winds. His fireplace warms us during the lonely winters of life. We linger in the abode of Christ and never leave.”

― Max Lucado

You stressed?

It is that time of year. Deadlines.  70-hour workloads. Year-end reports. Holiday obligations.  Then there is all the swirl around us.  And depending on where you consume your information, someone is responsible for our pending doom.

Sadly, many of us are tremendously stressed because we carry around a burden of security that God never intended for us to carry.

So, we never take days off and a nap is most certainly out of the question. And even if we do try to take a break, we keep thinking of the work we could be doing. We might unplug from the activity, but we never unplug from the strain.

I will admit it.  This is often the case with me.

Yet the BIBLE reminds us that our SECURITIES lie in God’s hands, not our own. And GOD often encourages us to “just rest” in that truth.

It is senseless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, fearing…God wants his loved ones to get their proper rest. – Psalm 127:2-3 (LB)

I love the way Max puts it.

GOD’ PROVIDENCE is what SECURES us.

And in that we can embrace the GIFT of REST without FEAR! 

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. 

Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)

I get it.  Believe me. The work always seems to carry more priority than Jesus’s invitation for a respite and we can always invent a reason we can’t rest right now.  And even when we desire or attempt to take a break, it is nearly impossible to turn away from the priorities set in place by the culture that do their dead-level best to swallow us.

That is why it really comes down to disciplining ourselves to rest when it’s time to rest, and work when it’s time to work.

Why?

In rest we find NEEDED nourishment.

In rest we find NEEDED grace.

In rest we are warmed and assured.

And…

Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down…

Philippians 4:6 (MSG)

And when we are settled the LORD can more effectively SPEAK (Psalm 46:10) and help us with all that stresses us; help us to prioritize more effectively.  The more we linger the better off we are!

So, got time for a little break today?

Time to catch a little rest? 

If not today, carve it out for tomorrow.

Make an appointment for a little rest.

I have it on MY calendar.

Put it on yours!

FOR...

“There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither.” ― Alan Cohen

I love you all!

HAVE A BLESSED DAY!

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE