Come unto Me, you who are weighed down and exhausted by life's heavy burdens,
problems, and obligations, and I will give you rest for both your body and soul.
(Paraphrased content from Matthew 11:28)
If I ever needed a time for rest, rejuvenation, and recuperation, it's now...
problems, and obligations, and I will give you rest for both your body and soul.
(Paraphrased content from Matthew 11:28)
If I ever needed a time for rest, rejuvenation, and recuperation, it's now...
I'm in such a desperate need of rest, that I even wrote my own version of the above verse from Matthew's gospel account.
The Lord beckons us to come to Him for rest. And why does He beckon and plead with us to come? Well, if I could speak for myself, I would have to confess that I don't know when to slow down. A hyperactive individual like me needs divine assistance to stop. It's true!
I don't know when to take time for myself so that I could experience deep levels of rest and rejuvenation that would allow for me to heal and get reenergized. I know firsthand that I cannot live on naps or on an occasional day off. Because my job assignment of working with men who have a handicap, plus helping to oversee our chapel's activities, and the level of correspondence I'm involved in daily, takes a lot of time and energy.
And then there are the daily encounters with demonic entities who seek to stir up strife, and thereby wear me down. I call it "spiritual warfare," and it's real! But I'm not complaining. I know God's grace is sufficient. I know too, and with absolute certainty, that the Holy Spirit lives inside me, and the Lord Jesus loves me. Therefore, I am "more than a conqueror" through Him.
Nevertheless, the Lord sets limits and boundaries for His children, including me. Therefore, I need to better respect those boundaries by taking time off when He directs me to do so. I need to stop worrying what others may think of me whenever I sense the need to take time off for some serious rest. Or if I'm not as quick in replying to mail as I used to be, that I do not lay the blame on myself.
I'm laughing as I write this because the Lord is reminding me that I'm now 72 years old. I'm not thirty anymore! "David, you're one of my beloved lambs. Find a green pasture to lie down in. Take time to rest. It's important."
D.B.
The Lord beckons us to come to Him for rest. And why does He beckon and plead with us to come? Well, if I could speak for myself, I would have to confess that I don't know when to slow down. A hyperactive individual like me needs divine assistance to stop. It's true!
I don't know when to take time for myself so that I could experience deep levels of rest and rejuvenation that would allow for me to heal and get reenergized. I know firsthand that I cannot live on naps or on an occasional day off. Because my job assignment of working with men who have a handicap, plus helping to oversee our chapel's activities, and the level of correspondence I'm involved in daily, takes a lot of time and energy.
And then there are the daily encounters with demonic entities who seek to stir up strife, and thereby wear me down. I call it "spiritual warfare," and it's real! But I'm not complaining. I know God's grace is sufficient. I know too, and with absolute certainty, that the Holy Spirit lives inside me, and the Lord Jesus loves me. Therefore, I am "more than a conqueror" through Him.
Nevertheless, the Lord sets limits and boundaries for His children, including me. Therefore, I need to better respect those boundaries by taking time off when He directs me to do so. I need to stop worrying what others may think of me whenever I sense the need to take time off for some serious rest. Or if I'm not as quick in replying to mail as I used to be, that I do not lay the blame on myself.
I'm laughing as I write this because the Lord is reminding me that I'm now 72 years old. I'm not thirty anymore! "David, you're one of my beloved lambs. Find a green pasture to lie down in. Take time to rest. It's important."
D.B.