Published February 25, 2017 on my closed blog ggmandy dot com
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30 NLT
Have you ever felt like you have been run down by a speeding train?
Did you know? “There’s an app for that! 🙂 When I was a kid, we were taught that when you come to a railroad track, STOP, LOOK, & LISTEN. Trains can only go where there are tracks, so pay attention. Don’t proceed until you come to a complete stop, then look and see if anything is coming, then listen for anything that might be coming down the tracks.
I wonder …
Do you
STOP, LOOK AND LISTEN before you proceed into your life?
The scriptures are full of examples and admonitions for us to slow and spend time with the Lord. Right from the beginning, God came in the cool of the day to speak with Adam (Genesis 3:8). Even before that God Himself rested after 6 days of work (Hebrews 4:4). Even Jesus would often withdraw from the crowds to pray. (Matthew 14:13-21)
And yet, we act as if we don’t really need to slow down.
We jump out of bed in the morning, throw on some clothes, down a cup of coffee, and run out the door. Never once thinking of even a quick hello to the Lord or an invitation to Him to walk beside us throughout the day. It’s no wonder, we feel worn and weary.
How Do We Slow Ourselves to Rest?
And what about our Sundays?
When I was growing up, we did only what had to be done on Sundays. Even when the hay was ready to bale, it stayed on the ground for a day. Sundays were for attending church and resting. The most we ever did was maybe a “Sunday afternoon drive” or visiting family.
I recall asking Dad once,
“Why couldn’t the Lord allow the cows to give twice the milk on Saturday so that we wouldn’t have to milk them on Sunday as God did with providing manna to the Israelites?”
His answer pricked my heart.
“God might be willing to do that if we were willing to REALLY give Him the Sabbath.”
You see, what I wanted was to be able to go and play and have fun, not to actually take the day to slow down and worship God. It seems that when we “slow down” we are still filling our lives with stimulants that do not allow us the opportunity to rest and to fellowship with God.
There is little to no room for God.
We come home from work or play and immediately, we turn on our radios, TV, and internet.
No quiet for him to even get a word in edgewise.
Take a look from a practical point of view. Phyllis Korkki, at the New York Times, says
“A growing body of evidence shows that taking regular breaks from mental tasks improves productivity and creativity — and that skipping breaks can lead to stress and exhaustion … and may even lead to bad health.”
I know for myself when I was working, I would get where I seemed to not be making progress in my work. The best thing I could do was to go take a walk around the block. Breaks are helpful, so long as we aren’t using them to procrastinate.
What about meditation?
Studies show that regular meditation is a very beneficial activity. Anastasia Stephens lists seven benefits of meditation :
- Increased Immunity
- Emotional Balance
- Increased Fertility
- Relieves Irritable bowel syndrome
- Lowers blood pressure
- Anti-inflammatory
- Calmness
Now, who couldn’t use a few of those benefits!
God told Joshua,
“Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”
So, if we want to prosper, we MUST spend time meditating on the Word of God.
Musical Rests
WHAT if THERE WERE NO RESTS IN MUSIC?
What kind of song would we get if only notes were played without regard to rests?
I was a percussionist in the high school band. While the bells were my favorite, I also played the timpani. But many times there were long measures of rests between notes. This was no fun. Just counting beats.
But these rests left time for tuning the instrument to the right note.
And THEN, at the right moment, what an awesome timpani sound rolled out.
We need these times of rest in our lives as well to tune ourselves to the drumbeat of God.
John Ruskins said,
“If we sorrowfully say to ourselves, ‘There is no music in a rest,’ let us not forget that the rest is part of the making of the music. The process is often slow and painful in this life, yet how patiently God works to teach us! And how long He waits for us to learn the lesson!”3
God can only speak to us in the quiet.
If we never slow down and listen, there is no chance for God to minister to us.
Oh, how He loves us and wants us to come and fellowship with Him. He wants to tell us so much.
If we would but stop, look and listen!
–Mandy
Pastor’s Wife (retired) & Chronic Pain Warrior blogs about how to make it through anything by relating her own life experiences to her writing. She is passionate about her love for the Lord and desires to spread that passion to others. She has a great desire to encourage women who are following behind her.
Amen. Even with Chronic Illness slowing me down, I have found that I so easily find ways to fill up my time. I am so thankful that Jesus is continually calling us to come away with Him. And thank you for this great reminder Mandy!
Mandy, you share some good wisdom here! God’s been speaking to me a lot about rest. Especially after a stressful May, I am working to slow down so I can rest more and re-establish rest as a part of my daily rhythm.
I want to invite you to share this over at the Tell His Story linkup at my site. I believe the readers there would benefit from your insights. Hope to see you!
I’ve tried to develop Sundays again as a more rest-full day the past couple of years, and it has really made a difference. God really does know what he’s talking about. 🙂
Indeed He does. I remember when I realized that my parents actually knew what they were talking about. God really does have our best interest in mind. Thanks for dropping by,
Rest is vitally important. We push ourselves way too much, even speaking only of the physical. But in truthfulness, none of us are getting still and quiet enough to really hear what God has to tell us. Thanks for stopping. I’ll try to come share at Tell His Story. God bless.
Thanks Bettie! I was telling Michele today in our weekly chat that somehow I find my days so short. I also have to beware of setting my goals too high for this chronic pain warrior. Love you girl!
Such wisdom here.
I really appreciate your illustration of the RR tracks – Stop, Look & Listen. It makes it stick. Thanks for the encouragement to keep the Sabbath.
Lisa, Visiting from GrammysGrid World Religions LinkUp #8