Live Ready to…

Live ready to rest.

That sounds like an unproductive way to go about life, but the Lord has shown me through lots of hard times and pain that this is exactly the mindset He wants me to have. Rest is not just sleep or zoning out. It is renewal and refreshment.

He has taught me this in the midst of physical pain, deaths of family members and the sudden death my closest friend who was more than a sister to me, my husband’s many surgeries and recoveries, a hateful betrayal of a family member that my kids and I ended up caring for and loving on as she traveled a slow agonizing journey through cancer and ultimately death, and lots of painful family drama that is still ongoing. Of course these trials produce a myriad of emotions anxiety, feeling overwhelmed, deep frustration, and anger. I now also believe that my unplanned retirement is His way of giving me restoration time before the next hard thing that I know is yet to come. All of this has just been in the last 5 years!

Please don’t think that I refer to all those times to garner sympathy or self glorification. There are so many people I know, and many I don’t know, that have suffered even more hardships and pain. That is why I felt compelled to share what The Lord has taught me. You always come out stronger on the other side of God’s restoration and refreshment.

The Bible tells a story in Luke 10:38-42 of 2 sisters, Mary and Martha. Martha is very busy in the kitchen and complaining about the work she is doing while her sister Mary is sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to Him and absorbing His words. It is so easy to be a Martha (or in comparison like Peter) if that is how you are wired, barreling through life doing what you or other people think you should be doing or jumping from one challenge into another with no thought of time out. But Jesus said that Mary had chosen the better thing or you could say that about Zacchaeus too who climbed up a tree to see Jesus and then received Him in his home so He could absorb His words in Luke 19:1-6.

There are so many ways The Lord has given me “Mary time”. An overlook in Brown county after the death of my mother-in-law where He gave me a picture of Him picking a “bouquet” of pine trees for me, walking in the woods and sitting by the water where He reminds me that even over the ripples or the rapids the river just keeps on flowing (a metaphor for me of His unwavering dependability), coffee with a friend, nights with our community group or hanging with the high school kids, or even something as simple as sitting on my front porch with my husband, visiting with our neighbors and watching their children play. Many times a song comes on at just the right moment and certainly time reading scripture gets me back on track.

The most refreshing times are when I am riding my bike while praying or just letting my mind wander. The words to the hymn “It is well with my soul” more often than not come to mind as I am cruising along. It does help though to have a quiet place to retreat to, with no distractions. I have a prayer journal and in good weather I sit on a swing by a small lake and write to The Lord and there is a portico at a church near me where I go in the winter and write my prayers.

So as you can see there are many ways He can lead us to rest and it can look different for each of us. Even Jesus needed restoration time. The Bible tells us in Mark 1:12, 1:35, 1:45, 2:13, 3:7 & 13, 4:36, 6:31 & 46, 7:24, 9:2 and 14:32 that He went to a quiet place. If Our Lord needed that, how much more do we?

Genesis 2:2-3 tells us that God rested on the 7th day after He spent 6 days creating. What that looked like we don’t actually know, but it indicates to me that He stopped His work to meditate on what He had done. Psalm 143:5 and 145:5 says We should do the same – meditate on His works. What could be more restorative than that??

During High School student ministry the other night Nathan was teaching on Hebrews 11 & 12 about running with endurance. He equated endurance with focus. To me endurance does not mean always running. You have to stop and focus so you can see where you are going and how far you have come.

When I had cancer several years ago The Lord gave me a scripture in 1 Peter 5:6-11: “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood (sisters) in the world. But may the God of all grace who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen and SETTLE YOU. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

I love the picture of Him SETTLING me! That is what “Living To Rest” is all about.