Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Rest

Rest

We are all such busy people.  In today’s world as adults, we have so many responsibilities.  Family commitments, work, education, household responsibilities, and just the other things life throws at us that can be extremely overwhelming.  We have all experienced this.  Life is not always peaceful rainbows and butterflies.  It’s overwhelming and stressful at times.  It is so important that we learn to deal with this stress in a healthy way and not let the enemy overtake us!
Over the past several weeks, I have been extremely overwhelmed with the stresses of life.  It has gotten to the point where it has been affecting my overall mood and attitude.  That is not good!! We need to remember what is truly important and hold on to the true things God says about us that we can find in the Bible.
Once Christians understand that the Word of God is full of truth, they can apply that to their lives.  We know that God is always with us.  This truth brings us peace.  We know that God formed us and set us apart.  This truth will help us feel loved, even in our darkest times.  We know that because God is always for us, it does not matter who is against us.  This truth can empower us to keep living our lives to glorify God even when others put us down.  The truth that God gives us can bring us much confidence and joy.
On the other hand, this world offers us lies daily.  As Christians, we must be able to distinguish between the lies of this world, and the truth of God.  We are constantly being told lies like “you will never succeed”, “you are not good enough”, and “nobody likes you”; however when we look to the Bible, we see very opposite things.  We see that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).  We see that we are blameless, spotless children of God in His sight (Philippians 2:15).  We see that nothing in this world could ever separate us from the love of God (Psalm 139).  His love is so great for us that we could never understand it.  We learn that God is always with us wherever we go.  When we are able to speak these truths into our lives, we will become empowered and more capable of spreading the love of God to everyone on Earth.
When you feel stressed or overwhelmed, look to your creator for rest.  He says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  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).
Find your rest in Him.  He is the only one that can bring you true peace and rest.  Anxiety, depression, and worry are real things.  They are very difficult to deal with.  But we serve a big and powerful God.  If you are experiencing these things, look to God to find rest.  Sometimes it helps to just unplug from everything and take a break.  Read your Bible- get to know the true character of God.  Spend time listening to soft worship music and just soaking in the presence of God.  Talk to Him-pray.  God will always listen.  Write in a journal.  Just take a break and rest.
Find your identity in who God says you are.  Not what anyone else says.  Read your Bible.  Learn these things.  Ask God these questions and wait for Him to respond.  If you seek the Lord, He will give you everything you need.  He cares for you.  He loves you more than you could ever imagine.  Cling to that love.
A friend of mine shared this saying with me a few years ago about rest: “Sometimes life feels like running on ice.  You get further sitting on your butt and sliding than running.”  This is so true.  Sometimes we just need to take a break and trust that God is holding us in His hands.  He is already at the solution of our situation.  We think it will never work out, but God is already there.  Take some time to spend with just you and God.  He treasures this time… what an amazing thing that the creator of the universe desires to spend time with YOU! Wow!  We serve an incredible God!

Lots of love,

Dani xoxo

No comments:

Post a Comment