Day 26: Rest

This post is one in a series of posts called “Glimpses of God” which I am writing as part of the Write31Days blog challenge. You can find the other posts here: 31 Glimpses of God Blog Challenge (#write31days)

Sometimes you just have to rest. More importantly, you have to give yourself permission to rest. I didn’t use to have a problem with that. Resting was my pastime, almost like a hobby. I had perfected the art of napping and downtime. But two kids later, various ministry responsibilities, and an attempt at a writing career and my good ol’ days of non-guilt inducing rest have become a distant memory.
Sunday was technically supposed to be a day of rest; however, we had a full day packed: church, teaching Sunday school, a roast in the crock pot, homework projects to help with and helping my husband install a huge bookcase he made for his office building. I found myself begin to stress out: how am I going to get it all done? There are lunches to pack, a lesson to write, when was the last time I paid bills? Do I even have food to put in the lunches I have yet to pack? The house was clean like 10 minutes ago…what happened????
I felt the buzz of never being able to do it all, begin to build. Yet, away we went to help install a bookcase (not just any bookcase mind you. this thing is a piece of art!) We stayed much later than anticipated, but this was so important to my husband that we couldn’t not be there. It’s his first piece he made for someone other than family.
Amazingly, we got most of our to-do items done that day, but the idea of waking up early to hit the ground running again on Monday sounded overwhelming to me. I prayed,
“God, thank you for providing the strength for today, but I don’t think I can keep up this pace much longer. It’s been a really busy and intense couple of days.”
Rest.
I didn’t hear the word so much as felt it in my soul. I started to protest: school, my to-do list, lots to do…..
Rest.
I started thinking. What’s so bad about a tardy if the alternative is zombie children at school? Is my to-do list really going to suffer terribly if I get a little later start? No!
So we turned off our alarms and we slept in a little. And it was……wonderful!
I know that we can’t always do that, but when the opportunity arises and you feel the Lord tell you to rest, listen to Him. Jesus often went off by Himself to a quiet place. He also seemed found of taking naps while in a boat on stormy seas 😉
We were created with a need for rest and that is nothing to feel guilty about. When God leads us to a beautiful green pasture and provides a moment of still waters, let’s not feel guilty – let’s feel grateful as we rest in His arms.
See you tomorrow,
Jen
Oh and just in case you want to see the awesome bookcase my talented husband built:

Isn’t he crazy talented???