What are you Resting in?

Does anyone else feel like they’re living life TIRED? Do you go through your days just longing for night to come so you can get some much-needed rest? Do you ever have so much to do and so many ideas and plans for things to do, but not enough energy or hours in the day to do it all?

If you find yourself in this place, then rest assured, you are not alone.

The tiring season of babies, late night feedings, toddlers and home-schooling turn into long days of other occupations, whether at home or at work. It really never ends, and sometimes we can begin to question God’s goodness.

“God, I want to live faithfully and serve you with all my heart, soul and body and yet I’m so tired. How am I supposed to do all you’ve called me to do when I’m so tired? Why aren’t you giving me boundless energy to be able to serve you more effectively?”

Often, we feel like we would be able to shine more brightly for the Lord and be a better reflection of him if only we had more time, more rest, more sleep, more energy and the list goes on.

And yes, having more of those things may very well prepare us better for our daily struggles and the endless tasks we face each day, but God wants us to rest in him and find our strength in him.

Victory is found in relying on his strength. Victory is found in finding ourselves totally depleted and being forced to utterly depend upon him.

I was struck by a very convicting quote recently:

“My confidence is not in how well-rested I am,

but in how well I am resting in Christ.”

Often, we place all our confidence in our energy levels and how much we can achieve because of how we feel. If we feel rested, we can take on the world.

But it’s not about how rested I am and how well and energized I feel, it’s all about how much I am relying on God’s strength and how well I rest in him. This is where we can gain confidence. We can’t rely on our own strength; we have to rely on him. We have to trust and rest in him.

If we are trusting in him, although we may feel tired and depleted, he will give us the strength to do the things he has called us to do.

Psalm 18:32 KJV - It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.

Maybe the reason you are feeling weary and worn is because you are busy doing things that he has not called you to do. Maybe you’re wearing yourself out doing a task that God wants someone else to do. Just because there is a need, doesn’t mean God wants you to fill it. We have to be in tune with him, walking close to him, seeking his guidance and wisdom so we know when to step up, and when to take a step back.

Maybe it’s a case of not listening for his still, small voice, as he gently calls you to stop and rest and give him your burdens.

There are many reasons for tiredness, and sometimes it’s simply poor eating choices, or not taking time out for rest, or sickness or a myriad of other things, but I do know that God calls us to rest and to rest in him. He longs for us to stop and sit at his feet, just as Mary did and was commended by the Lord Jesus for doing so.

Proverbs 18:10 KJV - The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.

God is our strong tower, and we can run to him as many times as we need. I feel as though I am in a perpetual season of busyness at this point in my life, and I have to force myself to stop. To sit. To rest.

Often it means putting aside something urgent for something important. The urgent screams for our attention, but often the important is quieter, a soft prompting, a gentle leading, and if we’re too busy, we won’t hear it.

We have to learn to make the most of those moments we’re given where we have a few minutes of quiet. It might mean putting aside your phone, or leaving the dishes in the sink, or letting the washing in the machine sit a little longer, just so you can spend a few minutes communing with the Lord, listening to him and sharing what is on your heart, reading his Word and meditating on what you read.

The busier you are, the more important it is to take times of rest. If you don’t force yourself to stop, it won’t happen until your body or your mental state forces you to stop. (Believe me, I know this from experience!)

Make the most of those God-given opportunities. I really believe that’s what they are. God-given opportunities. It’s not coincidence or luck. It’s also not because we are so good at prioritizing. God can cause our plans to go awry at any moment, and yet he often chooses to give us little windows of time, hoping that we will use them wisely to sit at his feet.

People often ask me how I find time to write and study. Honestly, I don’t. It finds me. And by that, I mean, that God finds me. He gives me those little moments. He gives me a day off work I didn’t expect, or a couple hours of quiet because of plans being cancelled, or a few  minutes of solitude early in the morning before the rush of the day begins.

It all comes down to choice. We have to choose what we do with our quiet moments. I am not perfect, by any means, and sometimes I sit and aimlessly scroll on my phone, letting my brain go into dull mode, or I sit and play the piano, letting the music wash over my soul and calm my thoughts. And sometimes we need that. But the most needed thing, the ‘one needful thing’ (Luke 10:42), is to rest in Christ and to sit at his feet and learn from him. We have to place our confidence in how well we are resting in him, NOT in how rested we feel.

God knows our desires. He understands the longings of our hearts and whether we are excited to do what he has called us to do. And he will give us the strength, the time and the energy to work for him and to serve others as we yield ourselves to him and rest in him.

Isaiah 40:29-31 KJV - He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Give your tiredness to him. Let him renew your strength, let him give you the power you need. He will give you wings when you rest in him.

Rest. Trust. Obey and watch what God can do!