Take Five: Finding Time to Rest in God - Encouragement Café - June 8, 2017

Take Five: Finding Time to Rest in God
By Angela Mackey
Thursday, June 8, 2017

“…Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 ESV

My eye twitched again as if my eyelid knew how much I still needed to do. The day swirled on a break-neck speed. And people, they needed to tell me things – lots of things. My ears longed for silence, but as a mother of three, silence is rare and often worrisome.

Then, I spilled leftovers down my arm, onto my shirt, all-over the refrigerator, and the floor. I felt done. I wanted to cry big tears over my failure, my inability to get things done, my lack of grace.

But something stopped me. In the middle of my eye twitching day with bean juice on my clean shirt and splattered on the floor, God whispered something to me.

STOP!

Stop berating yourself, I made you. Stop worrying about getting everything done perfectly. I have plans for you and your imperfections. Stop running around like a chicken with your head cut off. STOP!

And in the middle of my kitchen with bean juice on the floor I took a deep breath and laid all my expectations of myself at the foot of the cross. I gave up doing my day the way I wanted to do it and trusted God to shape my day His perfect way.

As I wiped out the refrigerator and recruited my kids to help me clean the floor, I took up the burden God intended me to take. His burden is easy when we rest in His power.

His yoke is light when we trust His direction. And in those brief moments, I felt refreshed. It only took one small moment to breathe, focus my eyes on Jesus, and trust God in the crazy, messy, busy day.

My eye stopped twitching. My to-do list, I shortened it to fit my day, instead of trying to stretch my day to fit it.

Sometimes, all we have is a short time to focus on God. No matter how long or short of a time we have, God can meet us, refresh us, and strengthen us to do the work He set before us. But how do we do this?

• Play worship music as we drive and sing along or listen to the words.
• Redirect our minds when they wander from Jesus. Take a deep breath and work on memorizing a verse. Or think about the ways we have experienced God’s goodness in both great situations and difficult ones.
• Pray. Start with praising God for who He is and what He has done. Be specific about what you are thankful for and how you have seen Him working in your life.

In the chaos of the day, if we just stop to breathe and refocus on Jesus, the Holy Spirit will refresh our souls. What are you waiting for?

Today, when your blood pressure rises or your eye twitches or you just feel weary - STOP. Refocus on Jesus. And let the Holy Spirit refresh you.

Father God, we confess that we often get caught up in the chaos of life. We get uptight, stressed, and worn out. We focus on what we think we “have to do” instead of focusing on You and what You have for us to do. Help us to stop in the middle of the crazy and refocus on You. As we lay our crazy at Your feet, please fill us with Your refreshing Spirit. Help us to rest in You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

© 2017 by Angela Mackey.  All rights reserved.

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