When You Have The Faith To Pause Awhile

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]"   --- Matthew 11:28

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So while Tom and I recently watched Chicago Med (which has turned so soap opera-ish, but hey--) a character said:

"This has been a difficult year. The madness, the heartache. I have to admit I'm a little bit shell-shocked."

Wow. Probably describes tons of us world dwellers. Oh, what we're all watching/experiencing/living through since early 2020.

That shell-shocked term stuck with me. Here's the non-soldier-related definition:

"...mentally confused, upset, or exhausted as a result of a highly stressful or disturbing and often unexpected event or experience."

Can you relate? Sometimes I've even sighed to Tom, "Man, I need a vacation," to which he'll reply, "Yeah, let's go!" But then my mind jumps to that list, you know, the "Tasks You Must Do Before Leaving On Vacation" list.

Uh oh. That list exhausts me. So what to do, what to do? 

I can rest within my mind, that's what. Rest at home. Rest in God. Read cozy books. Sit within the silence of the front porch. Listen to music. Stretch. Watch vintage tv. Visit the cafe. Putter in the garden. Take walks. Cut way back on social media. 

Relearn lessons of contentment, gratitude. And think. Like, how the world still spins without my help.

Actually? If I confessed the number of afternoons God's nudged me to rest, to recuperate in 2021, you'd not believe me. He knows how 2020 stretched my brain (like a rubberband?) with not fear, but rather, intensity, excitement and (inner) adventure and He knows what it'll take to return it to a right normal. To heal.

The quota on unhealed wounded healers is, I believe, full.

Which reminds me: even during rest God can still use us. At the cafe last week, with my nose in a book (as they say), a woman approached me, got my attention. "Hello! I've not seen you in ages."

I looked up at her and replied, "Oh my, yes! I think it's been more than a year. Wow."

She quickly added, "It's actually good seeing you there at the table again. Reading your book. Like back when things were normal."

Gee, that made me feel good. I'd left the house an hour earlier than usual, perhaps because God wanted to remind this woman of the sweetness of normalcy. Of the tiny ways it can return after a time of loss. You know, like back when we took simplicity for granted.

So today if God tells you to rest--without guilt!--well, rest, ok? In whatever form that takes. Perhaps not just you, but others of us will benefit from that rest, that healing time you took. 

Today or some future one our wholeness may greatly matter. You just never know.

Walking home from the cafe in the early mornings, I spy my Prayer Garden and feel such peace.

"And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made." ... "And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”   --- Genesis 2:2, Exodus 33:14

Our healing today can help bring about another person's tomorrow.

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And perhaps this which I spied at Facebook will bring a sense of comfort to your mind:

Don’t feel sorry for or fear for your kids because the world they are going to grow up in is not what it used to be.

God created them and called them for the exact moment in time that they’re in. Their life wasn’t a coincidence or an accident.

Raise them up to know the power they walk in as children of God.

Train them up in the authority of His Word.

Teach them to walk in faith knowing that God is in control.

Empower them to know they can change the world.

Don’t teach them to be fearful and disheartened by the state of the world but hopeful that they can do something about it.

Every person in all of history has been placed in the time that they were in because of God’s sovereign plan.

He knew Daniel could handle the lions den. 

He knew David could handle Goliath.

He knew Esther could handle Haman.

He knew Peter could handle persecution.

He knows that your child can handle whatever challenge they face in their life. He created them specifically for it!

Don’t be scared for your children, but be honored that God chose YOU to parent the generation that is facing the biggest challenges of our lifetime.

Rise up to the challenge.

Raise Daniels, Davids, Esthers and Peters!

God isn’t scratching His head wondering what He’s going to do with this mess of a world.

He has an army He’s raising up to drive back the darkness and make Him known all over the earth.

Don’t let your fear steal the greatness God placed in them. I know it’s hard to imagine them as anything besides our sweet little babies, and we just want to protect them from anything that could ever be hard on them, but they were born for such a time as this.

(Copied)

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"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!"   ---Psalm 37:7

Please remember: My posts are always about more than they appear to be. 

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 "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15