She JourneysSample

Winter - Written by Meg Cooke

Day 5 - A Time to Give up, a Time to Throw Away, a Time to Tear (v 6 & 7)

Giving up, throwing away and tearing down often come with negative connotations but when they are directed by God, they might just give us new life. 

Rest is vitally important if we are to come out of our winter season with new life as it says in Psalm 23:1-3.

What image does this conjure up in your mind? For the more obedient of us, you might imagine God gently taking you by the hand and leading you to rest whilst birds softly sing in the background.  For the chronic working, over-thinking, “I’m just so busy” of us, you might instead imagine God picking you up and wrestling you to the ground to make you take just one moment of rest. 

Whichever category you fall into, you need rest to replenish your souls.  Rest is Godly.  God didn’t have to create humans with the need for several hours of sleep per night, doing absolutely nothing but lying down, but He did. God’s design alone should speak to us about the importance of rest, but God doesn’t just leave it at that, He speaks through His word about its importance and uses Jesus as an example. Mark 4:38-40 tells of Jesus sleeping on the boat, through a storm, with other people constantly relying on him.  Jesus sleeps because He knows His Heavenly Father loves Him and will provide for His every need. 

What is Rest?

Rest is NOT fearfully preserving our energy, rest is not an excuse to become unreliable and take the easy route. Far too often we can use the requirement for rest as an excuse to get out of the things we don’t feel like going to. If we are not seeking God in our rest, we are saying no to the ways God wants to increase our capacity and find joy in Him. 

Likewise, rest is NOT a once a year holiday or time away to recuperate after exhausting yourself. 

Rest is the weekly, daily and even hourly reminder to our souls that God is in control and we are not the saviours of our own lives.  Psalm 23’s command to rest comes at a time when David himself was in a winter season. Verse 4 says “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me”. 

Without rest, we risk exhaustion and the hardening of our hearts that comes from doing everything in our own strength. We become a short distance sprinter, rather than a long distance marathon runner. 

How Do We Find Rest?

Holidays, days off, and sleep are all important. However, holidays and days off are not always regular occurrences, and sleep sometimes, or often, evades us. So what then? Very simply, rest is regular and consistent time in God’s presence.  No matter how many demands are on your time, one moment in God’s presence is enough to refuel and revitalise our souls. Seek Jesus and He will give you rest, Matthew: 11:29.

Remember, rest is an act of obedience.