Women of Faith - Finding Rest in a Busy World

Screech!

Its okay. Really. Its just me slamming on my brakes in the midst of a whirlwind schedule. Honestly, I had to giggle when I was asked to greet you at the opening of a study called Resting In Him. Then I thought that perhaps this was a heavenly plot to slow me down (again), and that maybe, just maybe, some of my girlfriends needed to join me. I wouldnt be surprised if you can relate.

Go ahead, hit your brakes... take a deep breath. Now doesnt that feel better even for a moment?

Opportunities in life abound! They always have, and they always will, but heres the kicker: when given the chance, busyness will eat us for lunch. We were not meant to do all that is before us, as admirable as it might sound. Doing too much will strip our gears and drain our energy tank. Then we become a sputtering list of excuses as to why we are tardy, or speeding, or unable to make deadlines, or unprepared, and the list goes on. But the worst part is when we try to maintain a performance-based lifestyle, because doing so will either wad our nerves into an explosive bundle or gradually shut down legitimate emotions, leaving us numb. And one more thing a crammed lifestyle will do is convince us that we are only as valuable as what we can achieve in a day. Then when we are not smokin our productivity tires, we feel guilty.

I love a sense of accomplishment. I celebrate what looks like progress in a project or in my personal growth, but I have learned along lifes freeways that even good intentions can leave us harried if we have taken on more than we should have.

One year I sprung an exhaustion leak of such magnitude that I had to take a season off my speaking commitments and seek therapy just to find myself again under my relentless schedule.

Its not wrong to have a full life or even a busy agenda, but when it costs you or your family more than it should, its time to re-evaluate. Life pacing is tricky because quite honestly some seasons will require more of us than others. But we have to make sure we are not trying to live out someone elses expectations for us, that we are not in a flurry just to indulge an unhealthy tendency to people-please, or that we havent bought into the lie that we have no choice but to careen through life at a breakneck pace.

Honestly, I could be the visual aid for this study because I have such a propensity to extremes (especially where rushing and running come in), so I am grateful for studies that remind us to slow down, think, and then proceed with holy caution.

So girlfriends, join an adrenalin-addicted junky as I sit in the shelter of the truth that I need to Be still and know that He is God. For it is there that I calm down and settle into a Christ-led existence of sanity, focus, and purpose.

Patsy Clairmont

The Lord replied, My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.

Exodus 33:14

Rest. Our souls crave it. Our bodies demand it. Our spirits are renewed through it. Yet rest is one of those treasures that we often dont take the time to enjoy in the busyness of life. As the pace of our modern world speeds up, we find ourselves trying to do more in the same amount of time. Left unchecked, we become experts in efficiencyrunning hard and fast on the treadmill of life. Our souls grow weary. Our bodies grow weak. Our spirits run dry.

When asked what a person truly needs to survive, most people list air, water, and food, while forgetting that rest is also vitally important to our bodies, minds, and spirits. Rest has the power to transform our attitudes, our actions, and even our activities. When well-rested, we are better equipped to face the challenges as well as the occasional curveball daily life often throws at us.

Meanwhile, the God who formed and shaped us offers us restreal restin Him. He invites us to step off the treadmill of life and discover the renewal and restoration that can only come from Him. When we take time to rest, we begin to realize that what feels like doing nothing is really allowing God to do something inside of us. Our souls are given a chance to renew. Our physical bodies are given a chance to heal. Our spirits are given the opportunity to connect with God. In those precious moments, we are reminded not just of who we are but whose we are. Afterward, we find ourselves echoing a common response, I needed that!

The ultimate rest you will ever experience doesnt just take place during a nap or a lazy Sunday afternoon. Instead, its found in God. He is the One who renews your weary soul. He is the One who gives you strength when you think you cant go any fartheremotionally, physically, spiritually, and relationally. The rest that God provides is like no other. Dont you think its time that you take a break and enter into the rest God has for you?

My hope and prayer is that through this study, you will discover real restthe kind that God has specifically designed for youand learn to relax in the arms of your Savior.

Blessings,

Margaret Feinberg

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light

Matthew 11:2830