Rest – View From My Shoes

I don’t like to make rush decisions nor am I very spontaneous. At work when someone proposes a new idea, my first reaction is to buy time – time to check with others that might be affected, time to read up on the idea, time to think. I’m the same way at home. Scott will throw out an idea, “Let’s go eat at this BBQ place I just saw on FB.” I have to process this suggestion. I start thinking through everything. “Well, I have pork chops thawed out,” or “what time will we get home?” It is hard for me to just say “Sure, let’s go!” I like to have time to mentally prepare.

There are times when God asks me to do something where I have plenty of time to prepare. When asked to teach a class or speak to a group, I have time to prepare the lesson. I have time to pray and think through everything. However, there are times when God opens a door that requires spontaneity. The other day while standing in line to checkout with my groceries, a lady asked me about the shirt I was wearing. It was a shirt from church that said North Women Discipleship. I didn’t have time to stop and pray about my answer. I didn’t have time to practice what I was going to say. I had to give her an answer right then. God opened a door while standing in line at Crest, and I had to be ready.

Preparation for these times or opportunities has to take place in advance. This is why it is important to stay in the word and to regularly spend time in prayer. We need to be prepared for these opportunities. David gives us an excellent example of this. He spent years out in the fields watching over the sheep. He spent time in prayer and praise. He was anointed as king, and he was called into Saul’s court as an armorbearer. He was prepared for whatever door was opened for him. Little did he know when he was sent on an errand to deliver some dried grain, cheese and loaves of bread to his brothers that a door would open for him to jump through. Once David hears of the situation with Goliath, he doesn’t ask for time to go pray, he doesn’t need time to go practice. He simply walks through the open door and says, “Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:32) David did not have to go and pray or go prepare. He was ready.

While I don’t think my nature will ever love surprises or completely unplanned events. However, I do want to always be prepared to walk through the doors that the Lord opens for me.

treadmill A couple of weeks ago I made a comment to my mom that I thought I should go to the doctor to find out why I was so tired all of the time. In the wisdom that only moms have, she commented, “you could be tired because you never rest.” With that in mind, I decided to keep a log of what I did each day and how often I was able to sit down and let my mind and body just rest. Today is the first day I have sat down in our living room in three weeks. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not working myself to death. Half of what I am doing is fun and includes time spent with friends, but it isn’t restful. It isn’t quiet time.

I by no means claim to be physically fit or know anything about physical training, but from what I have read or heard from people who take conditioning seriously, you have to cycle activities and one cycle includes rest. Your muscles need time to heal as part of the growing process and this takes rest. The same is true of our mental capacities.

It is true that during stressful times in our lives, we can be emotionally tired in a way that is equivalent to physical tiredness. I have come home at night exhausted even though I didn’t do any grueling work such as lifting boxes, swinging a hammer until my or climbing up and down a ladder. All I did was make decision after decision, answer e-mails with carefully worded responses, listening to colleagues with empathy and working to solve problems in a diplomatic way. I might as well have ran a marathon. It couldn’t have been any more exhausting – well maybe just a little, but I was wiped out from mental work. I first realized the effort that was involved in just emotional control after Jeff passed away. I would come home from work without a bit of energy left and all I had done that day was keep my emotions at bay for the day. Anyway, point is, we need times of emotional and mental rest just as much as we need times of physical rest.

This isn’t anything new or profound. It is just something I have to remind myself to do. There are times I actually schedule “do nothing” days. I put it on the calendar, announce it to my family and protect it like it is ordered by God. Oh wait, didn’t He order us to rest on the Sabbath? It was actually the 4th commandment (Exodus 20). Not only was this a time for rest, but a time to remember what God had done for Israel by delivering them from slavery. The law in Leviticus 25 takes this commandment one step further. Every seven years the Israelites were to give the land rest and not plant or prune. This was to remember the land belonged to God and if Israel would follow Him, He would provide and bless them. Following the commandment was an act of faith. To not plant, meant possibly to not eat.

This may not apply you, but sitting down and resting is hard for me to do. It is almost an act of faith. In order to take time to rest, I have to trust that it will be okay if everything on my “to do” list doesn’t get done tonight. Now my ability to feed my family isn’t at risk, but for those out there like me (please tell me I’m not alone) who cannot rest until everything is done, sitting down and taking it easy is hard. Back to the training schedule, I can only imagine it is hard to take a day off from training when preparing for a competition, but it is necessary or you will over do it and injure yourself. I am finding the same is true with mental rest.

This is like most of my blogs. It is more for me than anyone else. But I sit here looking at this log of activities and realize I have to take more time to rest, more time to read God’s word, and more time to just sit in His presence and remember how great He is.

Tag: Rest

Open Doors

Mental Training Schedule