Rest, Relax & Refreshment From the Lord

Times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. Acts. 3:20

“Rest and be thankful.” -Williams Wordsworth

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” -John Lubbock

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” – Jesus

Why do women struggle so much with rest? Why do we feel like we always have to be doing something? Why to put our value in how much we accomplish in a day? When did we start thinking exhaustion was OK and running our selves ragged was honorable? And why on earth do we feel guilty when we finally do go to bed early at the cost of leaving a few dirty dishes in the sink?

Have you ever thought that pushing yourself to the limit with no rest is really about pride? I mean God rested. So why wouldn’t we? Do we think we are more valuable than God? Is our work really more necessary than his? I’m taking a leap here and saying no way never.

Women, we need rest. Regular, scheduled, refreshing rest. We need time a way from work. We need time away from kids. We need time away from husbands. We need time away from ministry. We need time in the presence of the Lord.

I know this desperate truth. I live it. I have been drowning in a cycle of mom exhaustion, grief, emotion, sleeplessness and fatigue. I need to hit the reset button. Saturday that starts with a 7 day vacation. I will be resetting. No kids. No house cleaning. No blogging. Just me, a condo and some great people (the adult kind) and the presence of the Lord.

Maybe you can’t go on vacation next week, but you can cut back. You can say no. You can unplug. You can turn off the TV, put the kids to be early and treat yourself to a cup of tea and a good book. You can make time for Jesus and just bask in the presence of the Lord right where you are.