between beginning and end…
May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvellous glory and excellence.
2 Peter 1:2-3
Image sourced here.
From my journal tonight, God’s whisper:
Stop being afraid of what I’ve called you to be and to do.
And I am undone.
Lord, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.” (Psalm 51:12)
“Cast aside the last vestige of unbelief and embrace that destiny which you feared to accept on account of your limitation. These handicaps are now transcended by the might of My indwelling Spirit.”
quoted from John Gaynor Banks, The Master and the Disciple,
in Leanne Payne, Listening Prayer.
Here I am Lord.
May my heart will my feet to step out in faith.
Gentle.
Numerous times I’ve heard that word used to describe me. It was always meant as a compliment, but somehow I was unable to receive it. To me, gentle was just another word for soft, weak, or pushover. I didn’t want to be soft or weak or a pushover. I wanted to be strong, confident, assured.
I’ve wondered why gentleness is included as a gift of the Spirit (see Galations 5:22-23), and why the Bible encourages us to pursue gentleness (1 Timothy 6:11), to clothe ourselves in gentleness (Colossians 3:12), and to let our gentleness be evident to all (1 Peter 3:15).
And then I am reminded that a gentle answer deflects anger (Proverbs 15:1) and that a gentle tongue can break a bone (Proverbs 25:15).
Break a bone? That’s some metaphor. And I was worried about gentleness being weak?
There is power in gentleness.
And tonight I am reminded once again that there is power in gentleness because God is gentle.* He is kind and tolerant and patient.
That’s gentleness.
So I choose to embrace gentleness, grateful that God’s character is being shaped in me.
* Thank you to Sarah Siders. Check out her post here.
I’m discovering that writing something every day that’s actually worth someone’s time to read is not easy. Some days I know exactly what I want to say; other days I have absolutely no idea. Like today.
On days like this it would be easy to say it doesn’t matter. And on one level, it doesn’t. There are much bigger things going on in the world than worrying about one little blog post.
But … it would also mean that I’m choosing to believe that today it’s too hard. Too hard to marshall my thoughts, and craft some words on the screen. And I know that I often give up too quickly, too easily. So this poem from a 12-year old was a timely reminder for me, not to give up. Maybe it will be encouraging for you too.
Yesterday I shared some thoughts on how to receive the gift of rest. Today I’m attempting to get a little more practical. This is not a checklist or a prescription, just some ideas that may be helpful for your own experience of rest.
Are you getting enough sleep? Perhaps that sounds too obvious, but we live in a sleep-deprived world and making sure you get enough sleep every night is a key aspect of rest.
I’d like to say that I’ve got this sorted, but I have to say it’s a work (or un-work) in progress.
If you had to rate all the things in your life in order of importance, what would rise to the top? Those are your priorities. Are they consistent with your values? Are they the priorities you actually want for your life?
If you don’t make rest a priority, there will always be reasons why you never seem to have the time. Rest is a necessity, not a luxury.
I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency to over-commit, repeatedly. As a result, I am no stranger to burnout. It is not something I would recommend. Establishing your priorities may help you to decide what commitments or activities are worthwhile, and which ones you may need to stop.
It’s also worth being aware that commitments may have a season. Pay attention to the signs that a season is coming to an end. Ignoring the signs can be costly to your health and wellbeing.
Creating some space in your life will make it easier to rest.
Schedule time for rest. Regularly. That doesn’t mean you have to sit like a lump and do nothing. Choose things that are refreshing and life-giving for you. Choose things that help you bring your focus back to God. Here are a few suggestions:
Make sure you stay connected with people. This may seem a little counter-intuitive at first, but you need people who know you well, care about you and are willing to hold you accountable when you’re over-stretching and not resting well. You need people who will help you to keep perspective on your commitments, responsibilities and expectations of yourself. You also need to be willing to listen and respond if they express concern that you’re too busy and too tired.
Do you have any other practical suggestions for resting that you’d like to share?
Flourish! 