Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

How do you feel about rest? Are you one who loves and looks forward to regularly scheduled time to just chill and relax or are you someone who is wondering if that day will ever come? I will admit, I have been both in different seasons of my life. As a single mom, rest is usually a word you use with your children when they are headed to bed at night or a nap so you have uninterrupted time to get things done that you couldn’t while they were awake! Now I do what I can to keep one day every week to not focus on work stuff but to relax and enjoy things I enjoy that refresh my heart and mind. Some weeks I can hardly wait for that day to get here!

Without rest we cannot do or be who God created us to be. We live in such a fast paced world with so many constant demands and if we aren’t careful we can get caught up in doing way more than God would like us to do. Too often I don’t think we give it much thought that God may be looking at our commitments and schedules and shaking His head wishing we would listen and rest. Think for a moment about Mary and Martha.  Martha was busy doing what may have needed to be done, but did she need to get it done “right now”? Could the prep for lunch have waited for a little bit so she too could have had those moments of sitting at Jesus feet absorbing all He had to say? Little did she know the day would soon come when He would no longer be around for her to have that opportunity to sit there. 

Sometimes we don’t embrace the type of quiet time Jesus impressed on the disciples in Mark 6:31, And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” Some people hate being alone because they fear dealing with something deep inside that they need to face, but I believe most people who don’t slow down are more often dealing with insecurity.  Insecurity will never allow the opportunity for rest because insecurity says, “I am never enough, which means ‘it’ will never be enough therefore I can never stop, I must keep going!”  Is that you today? I went through years of my marriage wondering why I felt guilty if I sat down and I finally realized one day it was because he had called me so many horrible names and told me I was worthless and something in my mind new that wasn’t true so I kept “doing” to try to prove it. Feeling insecure in who you are is debilitating. There are so many things and even people in this world who could make you feel “less than” that is why it is so important to understand how God, who loves you and created every detail about you, sees you. Stop and think about all of the details God gave Moses about building the tabernacle in the wilderness and understand that He wove you intricately Himself with every tiny detail He wanted because He knew every detail needed for you to be who He created you to be. You are one of a kind for a reason ~ trust Him, no one else’s opinion matters! Remember Psalm 139:13-15, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.”  Don’t underestimate God’s love for and view of you! You are precious in His sight! Rest in Him! Take some time to ask His opinion of your schedule and be sure to squeeze that much needed time for quiet and rest. Being over busy will never fill the need for quiet, alone time with Him! He adores you and would love for you to just be still and allow Him to pour out His love and rest all over you and your life! Don’t miss out by being too busy with things that can wait or that really don’t matter in the bigger scheme of things. Trust Him to guide you in knowing what you need including rest.