Another week has gone by, and it’s time for 5 Minute Fridays again. If you aren’t familiar, 5 Minute Fridays are when women from all over write about one word for five minutes – no editing, no second-guessing – before they hit publish. Come check it out HERE.
Today’s word is REST.
The word rest seems sort of serendipitous today, as I come off a week of feeling rumpled in spirit (you can read about how God met me in all my wrinkled messiness HERE) and sort of blah. I’ve had a serious lack of focus and clarity, and the desire to start my vacation early even though I still have quite a bit of work to get done before I can officially be “off.”
I am deeply aware this week of my need for rest, but it’s not just rest for my body. Don’t get me wrong, if I have to operate on much less than 8 hours for more than a day or two, I get VERY grouchy (just ask my family!). But more than physical rest, I need mental, emotional and spiritual rest.
Have you been there? That feeling like no matter how much you try to relax, you just end up feeling restless? Here’s the thing, as I was praying and walking today, God showed me that one of the reasons I feel SO weary at the moment is that I have allowed myself to be overloaded and that I have failed to be still, to be unplugged and quiet.
We live in an age where we have information coming at us from every direction ALL. THE. TIME. It’s easy for our minds to be like gerbils running in a wheel from the time we get up in the morning until we close our eyes and try to go to sleep.
Physical rest is important, but it doesn’t matter how many hours of sleep you get, if your mind is never allowed to reset from the information overload, you will never feel rested. Worse, you’ll always feel this vague sense of stress.
It became very clear to me on my walk today that I have been scrambling around, distracted by fractured goals with no clear sense of where I’m going and, more importantly, why. I have heaped a mountain of meaningless tasks on my plate without stopping long enough to ask myself why they are on my plate to begin with.
For the past couple weeks, I’ve struggled with what to write on this blog. I’ve sat and stared at the screen many mornings and wondered what in the world I had to share that would help anyone when I felt so depleted myself.
How can you give water to the thirsty when your cup is dry?
It was like God said to me as He did to Martha, “Rosanne, Rosanne, you are busy with many things.” All this time, rest has been waiting for me at the feet of Jesus. I just need to take those moments to stop, to be still, to take the time to fill my cup again.
How do you find rest when you are weary? I’d love to hear about it!
Blessings, Rosanne
4 Comments on 5 Minute Fridays: REST
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I just wrote about this!! “We live in an age where we have information coming at us from every direction ALL. THE. TIME.” Jesus, give us rest. I rest by unplugging from social media. I have yet to do it this week. I will practice this weekend. Glad to find you on #FMF I’m #39. Have a blessed week.
Thanks for stopping by, Carolina! I try to unplug on Sundays, and you’d think that it would be easy to avoid the computer for one day. But every week it seems like a challenge – mostly habit I think! Anyway, thanks for stopping by! 🙂
God has really worked the concept of Sabbath into my life this year– not just taking a “day off” but truly taking a day of rest. For me that is Mondays. Sundays aren’t restful in a pastor’s family, and Saturdays I need to spend getting ready for Sunday, but Mondays are our day off. I try to be very purposeful about it– planning easy meals, avoiding stressful plans as much as possible. It doesn’t always happen– this Monday I have to get ready for a trip and so I won’t have time for a Sabbath– but God has blessed this so much. I feel so much more prepared to face my week when I have had my day to rest. I do get some work done, but I try to avoid physical work as much as possible. I focus on stuff I can do while sitting in the recliner– write letters, do lesson plans, read blogs, etc. I am so much more productive the rest of the week!
I also find that resting at the expense of time with God isn’t really rest. I need my morning with Him far more than I need the sleep I give up. For me it is a matter of faith– I believe He wants me with Him in His Word each morning, and so I obey, trusting He will meet my needs for rest. And He always does. 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and be part of the conversation, Erin. 🙂 For me, I’ve been trying to use Sundays as a day of rest. I try to completely unplug since, for me, the computer is where I do a lot of my work. It’s amazing how difficult that can be sometimes, but it’s good. And I agree – spending time with God is more restful than sleeping in (even if I am so tempted to hit the snooze button!).