Is life hectic for you right now? For my household, the month of May is almost as crazy as the month of December. We have two birthdays, my son’s and my dog’s, Mother’s Day, and the end of school with all of the final projects, ceremonies, and exams. The company my husband works for partners with the school systems, so its nuts for him at the office too. We feel like we are running wide open for the whole month.
I recently heard an interview with Juliana Mikael, the trainer for the Biggest Loser. She was talking more about optimal health than weight loss. She said diet, exercise and rest all factor into being healthy. She went on and on about how most people recognize diet and exercise are critical to being healthy but discount rest as a key factor. In fact, she went so far as to say if time was crunched in your schedule, it would be more important for you to get 7-8 hours rest a night than workout. Rest is critical to optimal physical health.
Rest is also critical to our spiritual health. So many of us get busy in doing for God we forget to just be with God. We are human beings, not human doings. He calls us to find our rest in Him.
Psalm 37:7 says “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him;” Now that may seem like a contradiction of terms for many of us having the words wait and patiently in the same sentence. Psalm 46:10 says “Be still and know I am God.” Psalm 62:5 says “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him.” God is our source of hope, but we must take time to rest in His loving arms for hope to take root. To avoid resting in Him would make about as much sense as a man suffering from a critical gunshot wound to the head saying, “I am so glad to know there is a hospital across the street” yet never going there for treatment. We must actively take advantage of the rest to reap its benefits.
In Matthew 11:29, Jesus says “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.” We must dedicate time to rest in Him to learn from Him. It is the most important thing you can do today. Will you do it? The Teacher is waiting for you.