Keep Pace with the Chariot

“In the same way, encourage young men (others) to live wisely.  And you yourself must be an example to them…”     – Titus 2:6-7

In Disciple Bible study this week, a video presenter was teaching about how to live in the presence of sinful and immoral behavior.  Referring to ancient Biblical times, he used the chariot as a metaphor and said that we’re not to enter the chariot, but are to keep pace alongside it.   The speaker was telling us that we, as Christians, are not to ’enter’ or take part in bad behavior or situations that are sinful or immoral, but we’re not to turn away from them either!  We’re to ‘keep pace’ and stay alongside the chariot so we’re aware of the issues and problems around us, and also in an effort to lead the chariot  in a better direction. 

I was reminded of that teaching when I thought about someone whose behavior bothered and concerned me.  I decided to avoid particular situaitons by avoiding the person who caused them.   I was wrong to do so.  I need to “keep pace alongside the chariot” to remain aware of the issues and maybe even help lead it in a better direction.

Dear God, Please forgive me for choosing to avoid certain situations because they made me uncomfortable.  Help me stay alongside the chariot in hopes of leading it as You would have it to go.  In the precious name of Jesus I pray.  Amen. 

H1N1 Flu: What Should We Do?

I had an interesting chat yesterday with my attending physician about the H1N1 flu and wanted to share his comments with you. 

The Bottom Line:  He recommends the seasonal flu shot for everyone who is able to take it.  He only recommends the H1N1 vaccine  for those who are ‘at risk’.   Discussion follows:

Q: Are you still seeing as much H1N1 flu? Or is it getting better?  A: It’s not getting better. It’s still spreading.

Q: Do you recommend getting the H1N1 vaccine?    A:  Not if we can’t get it until Dec or Jan.  By the time it’s available for the general public, it will probably not be needed for most people because the general public will most likely have already been exposed.   If they didn’t get sick by that time, they probably won’t.  Their bodies are putting up their own resistances.   If it’s Dec or Jan and you haven’t been vaccinated for H1N1, then it’s probably not necessary  UNLESS YOU’RE CONSIDERED AT RISK.

Q:  Who is at risk?   A: Pregnant women and children who are considered ‘at risk’ (those with pre-existing conditions like asthma, blood disorders, and other conditions that make them more at risk for illness).

Q: What about the older people?   A: In general, people in their 60’s and older are not at risk for H1N1.  Flus cycle on average every 20 years.  Older generations have been exposed in previous cycles and have their own natural anti-bodies which is the best form of resistance. 

Q: So will we see this flu again?  A: Most likely, yes.  I worry about all the people taking the vaccine now because it won’t allow them to develop their own natural resistances.  Then when they’re exposed at an older age, when their age will put them at risk, they won’t have the resistances they need and the flu could be more serious for them then.

Q: Should those who have already been sick with H1N1 get the vaccine?    A: NO!  They have the best resistances now – their own natural anti-bodies.  My children and I got H1N1 in the spring when it first started.  None of us need the vaccine now.  We’re producing our own natural anti-bodies.

Q: I’ve heard that if the H1N1 vaccine had been made in time, it would have been part of the current seasonal flu vaccine and we wouldn’t be having all the debates about it.  We’d just accept it as part of the general flu vaccine.   A: That’s right.  This vaccine has been created just like all the others.  

Q:  What about the deaths associated with H1N1, since just last week 19 deaths were reported?   A:  It’s tragic that anyone has to die, and I’m sorry for those people.  However, the death rate with H1N1 is concurrent with the average death rate for all flu.  If the media reported all flu deaths it would be like the others.  The flu is the flu.  People die every year of the common cold, too, but we don’t hear about it in the news. 

Q: I felt I should get the H1N1 vaccine to help stop the spreading of the illness, as somewhat of a civic duty since it’s so contagious.  It seems to me that if fewer people catch it, fewer people will spread it.  Some days I see a lot of people (including children and moms who have children at home) and know that I could be unknowingly exposing them to the flu for 24 hours before I realize I have it.   If I get it, then they get it, and then they expose the flu to other people, too; then it seems to me that I could possibly prevent a lot of other flu cases by getting the vaccine.    However, after hearing your comments about the vaccine,now  I wonder if I should. 

A: If you’re around a lot of people, have that concern, and feel the vaccine could make a difference, then get the vaccine; but keep in mind that if you get the vaccine now, you might not have the needed resistance to it when it cycles back around and it could be more serious then. 

A:  The only exception I have to that thought would be if this strain continues to mutate.  If it continues to mutate (change) then the anti-bodies we form toward this strain might not be effective in the future. 

(end of discussion)

I’m not trying to influence anyone on their decision about the H1N1 vaccine.  I just wanted to share a medical professional’s thoughts with you.  You can form your own opinion from there.  I’m sure there are many who will agree with his thoughts and others who will not. 

I hope you make the right choices to live well and stay well!   God bless you. 

 

 

Hurry Up and Wait

Now whenever the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle and moved, the people of Israel would set out on their journey, following it.  But if the cloud stayed, they would stay until it moved again.  The cloud of the LORD rested on the Tabernacle during the day, and at night there was fire in the cloud so all the people of Israel could see it.  This continued throughout all their journeys.       Exodus 40:36-38

PUTTING THE VERSE IN PERSPECTIVE:  After Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, they became a nomadic people on their way to the Promised Land.  During their nomadic time of wandering God told them He had chosen them from among all nations and tribes to be His Holy people.  Because they’d lived for 400 years as slaves in Egypt, God had to teach them how to be Holy.  Part of His teachings included how to properly worship Him.  Chapters 35-40 of Exodus detail the blueprints and construction for the Tabernacle God instructed the Isrealites to build.  Not only did the Tabernacle serve as a place for the Israelites to worship and make their sacrifices to the Lord, it was also the place for the presence of the LORD to dwell among them. 

God appeared over the Tabernacle as a cloud by day, and as a fire in the cloud by night, so that any time, 24/7, the Israelites could see His physical presence and know He was there with them.

The verse above tells us the Israelites learned to follow the Lord, literally, by moving with the cloud.  When the cloud moved, the people gathered the Tabernacle and moved.  When the cloud stayed, the people stayed. 

APPLICATION FOR US TODAY:  When faced with decisions, uncertainty, or new opportunities, do you ‘follow the cloud’?  Or do you forge ahead in your own way?   Do you seek the Lord’s presence and allow yourself to ’stop when the cloud stops’ having the faith to trust in His plan and destination for you? 

Many times in our lives we excitedly embark on new journeys.  The journey might be entering a new phase of our life, starting a new job, becoming a parent, making a major purchase, taking on a new interest, starting a new business, moving, or even answering a calling from God!  We’re eager to begin new pursuits, full of hope and ready to make dreams come true!  However, sometimes we find our dreams must be put on hold.  Sometimes life doesn’t move along as fast as we’d like or in the way we expected.  Sometimes, like the Israelites, we’re led out of Egypt and into a time of wandering before we can get to our intended Promised Land.  Sometimes we have to hurry up and wait.

I have two friends who’ve been called into minstries.  After affirming the call, each eagerly moved forward, anxious to answer her call and begin serving in ministry.  However, God didn’t lead them directly into their Promised Lands.  They had to spend a time of wandering, constantly seeking the Lord’s presence, until His desination for them was revealed. 

Another friend was desperate to adopt.  Her desire to adopt was consuming her thoughts.  Unfortunately the adoption process was consuming the funds set aside by her and her husband.  They needed another loan in a short period of time or they would have to give up on their adoption plans.  We met during this anxious time through a prayer request she sent to Proverbs 31 Ministries.  She had prayed so much for this adoption and worried that if she and her husband lost the opportunity to adopt, she’d lose her faith, too.   With great anxiety, she’d been forced to hurry up and wait.

As I read her prayer request, I felt God speak to my heart that He didn’t want her to give up and that He had a child for her.  My friend desperately wanted to believe it was true, but time and money were quickly running out.  Sadly, time and money did run out – but her faith did not!   In the process of ‘wandering’, while trying to get to her Promised Land of adopting a child, she began trusting God again, renewed her strength in the Lord, and was able to accept “Thy will” over her will, even when “Thy will” led to great disappointment.  I rejoiced that her heart had grown in faith, but was disappointed and confused that God hadn’t led them to adoption.  I’d felt sure He said He had a child for them, but it appeared I’d been mistaken.

Time went by, and later I received a new prayer request from my friend.  She wanted me to pray that their adoption would go through!  Yes, indeed, after a period of time when it seemed there was no longer a way, God found a way!  He rewarded their time of ‘wandering’ by presenting them with a wonderful opportunity to adopt!  Praise! 

God had called her ‘out of Egypt’ months earlier when He led my friend and her husband to the desire of adopting, but He didn’t take them straight to their Promised Land of becoming adoptive parents.  He led them through a time of wandering first, during which time they grew in faith.

Like the Israelites, all of us find ourselves called to new endeavors in our lives.  Sometimes God leads us directly to where we’re going.  Other times we have to learn to follow the presence of the Lord.  He might not appear as a visible cloud, but if we stay prayerful and seek His guidance, He will lead us just as He did the Israelites.  Often we’re so anxious to get where we’re going or to achieve our goals, that we fail to follow God’s lead.  We fail to move when the cloud moves and to stop when the cloud stops.  It’s hard to hurry up and wait!  Yet that is often what God leads us to do.  We must maintain faith that even when God isn’t leading us forward, He’s still with us and there’s a reason to stop and wait.  At the right time, and for the right reasons, God will lead us forward in the right ways. 

It was more than a year after being called into ministry before one of the friends mentioned above was finally led to her place of service.  To her surprise it was in another city with another denomination!  My other friend is in her time of wandering, learning to move when the cloud moves and stop when it stops.  The friends who wanted to adopt can hopefully look back now and see how wise and wonderful God was being, even during their times of great disappointment, for eventually He led them to just the right adoption situation, and one in which much good was done.  All praise be to God! 

I’ve certainly experienced many times of having to hurry up and wait.  I have to admit, the wandering and waiting are much easier when I keep my focus on the presence of the Lord, trusting Him to lead the way that’s best for me. 

The best part of the verse above is the ending where it assures us the Lord’s presence will continue with us throughout all of our journeys!

Harvest Time: A Time for Praise, Thanksgiving and Giving Back

The story of Moses doesn’t end with the Ten Commandments.  In fact, God was just beginning to teach His chosen Israelite people how to be Holy. It would be 40 years before the wandering Israelites would enter the Promised Land, and it’s no coincidence that the number 40 is associated with transformation in the Bible.  God used those 40 years to transform the Israelites from being former slaves to the Egyptians, to being a nomadic people who were cared for and provided for by God, to becoming His Holy nation of people.   In addition to giving them the Ten Commandments for right living, God also taught them how to worship Him.  Part of their worship included Festivals that are detailed in Chapter 23 of Leviticus. 

The LORD said to Moses, “Give the Israelites instructions regarding hte LORD’s appointed festivals, the days when all of you will be summoned ot worship me.  You may work for six days each week, but on the seventh day all work must come to a complete stop.  It is the LORD’s Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day to assemble for worship.  It must be observed wherever you live.  In addition to the Sabbath, the LORD has established festivals, the holy occasions to be observed at the proper time each year.     – Leviticus 23:1-4

In addition to the Passover and Unleavened Bread festivals held in early spring, God also established the following festivals:

Festival of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23-25):  This festival was held in early autumn and signified the beginning of the season of festivals to come.  It was a time to express joy and thanksgiving to God.    The people were to do no regular work on this day, but were to make burnt offerings to the LORD.

Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:26-32): This was a somber day to be observed on the 9th day after the Festival of Trumpets.  On this day the people were to have a sacred assembly,  humble themselves before God and present offerings to him.  Atonement was made for them before God, and payment was made for their sins (verse 28).  Anyone not spending the day in humility would be cut off from the community, and God said he would destroy anyone doing any kind of work on that day.  (verses 30,31)

Festival of Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:9-14):  God instructed Moses that when the Israelites arrived in the Promised Land and harvested their first crops, they were to bring grain as an offering from the first portion of their grain harvest in addition to other offerings as instructed by God.  This was to celebrate their first harvest in the land God had given them and also to remind them how God had provided for them.

Festival of Harvest (Leviticus 23:15-22):  Seven weeks after the Festival of Firstfruits, the Israelites were to celebrate the Festival of Harvest.  This was a time to celebrate the end of this time of harvest and to show joy and thanksgiving to God.  The Israelites were to give offerings which included bread made from choice flour from the first of their crops.  Not only were they to make offerings to God at harvest time, God also instructed them to leave unharvested the grain along the edges of their fields and not to pick up what the harvesters dropped.  This grain was to be left for the poor and foreigners living among them. 

My friends, whether you live in an agricultural community or not, this is your time of harvest!  It is this time of year we’re to reflect on the bounties God has provided for us.  Maybe He’s provided for you financially or with opportunities.  Maybe He blessed you with good health or the love of family and friends.  Maybe you didn’t ‘get ahead’ this year, but you still got by.  Maybe God answered long-awaited prayers or showed Himself to you in awesome ways. 

How were you blessed this year?  What do you have to offer in return?  How can you give back to God in return for all He’s done for you?

If you look back at the instructions for the festivals above, you’ll find the answers.  First we’re to acknowledge this season of harvest with joy and thanksgiving as in the Festival of Trumpets.  Then we’re to stop what we’re doing and give sacred time to God by humbling ourselves before Him, seeking atonement for our sins and making payment for them.  With humbled hearts, and having been made “at one” with God through atonement, we’re to go before the Lord giving Him the first and best fruits of our labors, not what’s left over after we serve ourselves.  We’re also to find ways to help the ‘poor and foreign’ among us.  We’re to give to God first, before giving and spending in other ways, with the best we have to give, and we’re to do so with joy and thanksgiving because of all He’s done for us! 

The Biblical instruction for giving is a tithe, which means 10% of what God has provided to us. As our former and current pastors say, “God gives us a pretty good deal.  He let’s us keep 90%!  He only takes 10!”     The Charlotte Observer reported today that the average offering in America is only 2.2%.  It went on to say that if full tithes were given, churches would have an additional 161 billion dollars (yes, that’s billion with a ‘b’) to benefit charities and mission work.  Can you imagine?!  Not only would this make a tremendous difference in the world around us, it would serve as an incredible stimulus to our economy!  (Hmmm…kind of makes me wonder if there’s a correlation as to why our nation is in the financial fix we’re in… ) 

This is our season of harvest.  It is a time for festival-type worship and praising for the good God has done in our lives!  It’s also a time to account for our sins and seek atonement (at-one-ment) with God.  Then with humbled hearts, we need to go before Him with the first and best of what we have to offer.  He gave of His best when He gave His beloved Son as a sacrifice for us.  What can we now offer Him in return?

Dear Lord, Help us to search our hearts and find all the reasons we have to be joyful and give thanks to You!   Help us to understand that making offerings to You is an act of worship and a way to give back in return for all You have done for us.  The Bible says that just as You have blessed us, we are to bless others.  Help us find it in our hearts to bless others by giving to You.  And Lord, some people may not be financially able to tithe even though it’s a desire in their hearts to do so.  Please bless those people and receive their gifts with even more pleasure, knowing they give what they can; and help them to one day be able to give the amounts they want to give.   Lord, the most important gifts we can give is of our hearts.  May our hearts and the offerings they yield be pleasing and acceptable to You, our Lord and Redeemer.  To You my Heavenly Father I pray, with Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and in the love of the Holy Spirit.  Amen. 

Opportunity taken? Or given?

He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.  So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”     – Matthew 9:37-38

My son, Jackson, recently informed me that the no-sew fleece blanket I made for him several years ago was getting too small.  He asked if we could buy more fleece so I could make a new blanket for him.  I was touched that he wanted me to make another one and looked forward to doing so. 

Anxious to get the blanket started, Jackson got the fleece out on his own. He spread it out neatlyso that it was ready for me to begin my work.  I had only made a few cuts in the fabric when Jackson asked if he could do some cutting, too.  “Sure!”, I responded.  “It will  fun to make it together!”   About that time I had to take a phone call.  I returned to discover that Jackson had gotten a lot done all by himself!  He even told me he wanted to finish the rest of the cutting by himself.  I was disappointed that he didn’t want to do it together, especially since this was something I wanted to make for him as a gift of love.  Yet, at the same time I was impressed that he wanted to take ownership and do it himself.  That was fine.  He could finish the cutting and I’d help with the tying…or so I thought.  He wanted to do that by himself, too!  

“You’re doing a great job,” I told him, “but making this blanket was something I wanted to do for you.  Are you sure I can’t help?”   He was sure that he wanted to make the blanket by himself, and was sweetly reminded me that I’d gotten to make the first one for him.  How could I argue with that? 

At first I felt like I’d had an opportunity taken from me.  I wanted the joy and satisfaction of making something special for my son.  However, when I thought about Jackson’s eagerness to do the project himself and how happy it made him to experience the satisfaction of completing the project on his own, I realized it wasn’t an opportunity taken at all.  It was an opportunity given. 

I’d set an example for him and inspired him to do something he’d seen me do.  As a parent, how rewarding is that?  That’s a big part of my job as a mom - to teach and inspire my children so that they will take on projects and responisibilities of their own.  This enables them to discover their talents and grow in the gifts God has given them.  

This is a big part of being a Christian, too.  We’re to use the gifts and talents God has given us to teach and inspire others, while at the same time helping them to discover and grow in their gifts, too!   

Seeing that colorful Bobcats fleece blanket on Jackson’s bed reminds me of how proud I am of him, and how much I admire him for having the confidence to take on something new and the determination to do it himself. 

I’m thankful for those who have inspired, encouraged, and allowed me to take on new things, too.  They gave me invaluable opportunities to use and grow my God-given gifts and talents.   Good leaders don’t just take opportunities to help others follow.  Good leaders give opportunities for others to be leaders, too! 

Dear God, Yes, the harvest is great and the workers are few.  Help me to inspire and lead others to ‘your fields’ so they can find their places in leadership and service, too.   In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

The Gift of a Prayer

I ran into a neighbor this weekend at our local Starbucks.  After saying hello he asked if I knew his mother had just passed away.  I hadn’t heard.  The pain of his loss was evident in his eyes.  I expressed my sympathy.  He said it was really hard (to deal with) because he’d lost 3 people in 4 months.  His twin sisters had died just weeks apart, then he lost his mother.  My heart went out to him.

Later that day my husband and I got to speak with our friend and his wife.  They told us that his mother had been a devout Catholic who pursued her faith until her death.  Her roommate, however, an alzheimers patient, was not a religious person – although she’d been a wonderful friend and roommate to his mother.  After the mother’s death, they told the roommate that her friend was gone.  When she learned of the death, this alzheimers patient paused and then began reciting one of the Catholic prayers of blessing.  Our friends and the nurses were amazed and said it was just beautiful.  Then the roommate left.  The stunned nurses told our friends this woman was not mentally capable of reciting something like that, and that it wasn’t ‘her’ speaking.  Our friends realized they’d been given a very special gift, through God’s presence in that woman.  They felt the mother letting them know she was ok and leaving them with a blessing. 

Shortly after this, the roommate returned.  They thanked her for the beautiful prayer.  “What prayer?!”, she asked as if they were the crazy ones.  She didn’t remember anything about it.  Yes, it must have been God.

Isn’t that a wonderful story?  My friends, God is with us, too.  He doesn’t always reveal Himself to us in situations like that, but He does make Himself known in many other ways.  Often He will later prove that He was indeed with us even if it didn’t seem so at the time.  Whether you are in a time of need, a time of uncertainty or unrest, or a time of peace and happiness, I pray God will make Himself known to you in awesome ways, too. 

God bless and keep you.

Renee

Your Prayers Will be Appreciated

Hello, friends -

I’m sorry it’s been over a week since I’ve written a new post.  I’ve just been extra busy!  It’s all good, though!  This coming week is full, too, as I keep up with our Disciple study, make progress on the Walk with Me mentoring program, and wrap things up in preparation for our upcoming women’s retreat.  I’ll be leading the communion segment and sharing about the Walk with Me program. We’ll leave for Blowing Rock on Friday afternoon.

As busy as things have been, things really have been going well.  Each day I’ve been asking God to be with me in all I have to do.  My daily task lists were big last week, but each day went great!  Praise!  I made good use of my time and was even able to tend to the unexpecteds that popped up each day.  Hopefully this will be another good week.  Once I get through this week, things will settle down and I’ll be able to get back to my usual writing.  (I miss it!)

If you think about it, please pray for  all who are preparing for the women’s retreat and all who will be attending the retreat.  Please pray for me to have another productive week, that I’ll make the most of my time and make good progress.  Please also pray for my son, Zach.  He’s been running fevers for over 24 hours and is weak/tired.  Please pray this is just a general virus, not H1N1, and that he gets well quickly.  And I will be giving praise for my other son, Jackson, who will be 9 tomorrow.   May he have many more happy, healthy years ahead of him, and may my husband, his brother, and I have many more happy, healthy years with him! 

Thank you very much.  Your prayers will be appreciated.  In return, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or contact me by my email to let me know how I can pray for you, too.  I’m never too busy to pray for others.   

Blessings to all,

Renee

Stinkin’ Thinkin’

The weather forecast predicted a beautiful day today, so I delayed my morning walk until later in the morning so I could fully enjoy the sunshine and late summer/early autumn air.  I looked  forward to having a peaceful walk, time alone when my thoughts could roam free, and hopefully encounter God somehow with something inspiring or gaining His perspective in my thoughts. 

What I encountered were the neighborhood garbage trucks!   Not only were they loud and distracting, they STUNK!!!   Oh, the smell was awful!  And they were all throughout the neighborhood!  I’d manage to get ahead of one, and another would pull out in front of me.  They were ALL stinky! 

Stinkin’ thinkin’ entered my head as I silently grumbled, “Why do I have to smell so many stinky smells?  First thing this morning was the cat’s litter box (yuck).  Then I discovered the dog’s ‘accident’.  She can’t help it, she has tummy problems, but it’s stinky and disgusting nonetheless.  The next bad smell was my son’s soured towel.  And this was all before 5:30 this morning!  Then there’s my son’s stinky-sweaty football gear he brings home everyday.  Worse than that is smelling him for 20 minutes on the way home from his sweaty practices.  Oh, and what about the boys when they come in from the fresh outdoors not smelling so fresh?”  (My husband says I smell bad, too, when I come in from outside.  Surely not! ) Even my walk is spoiled with the smell of garbage!”  Before my grumbling  could go on, God broke into my thoughts to say, “I have to smell bad things, too.”  At first I wondered if he could smell our stinky rotten trash all the way up to wherever He is, then I remembered the Bible says our bad behaviors, evil ways, ignorance of God, and hypocritical worship rise up as a bad stench to the Lord.   In reference to the sinful people of Isaiah’s time, God said:  “…These people are a stench in my nostrils, an acrid smell that never goes away.” (Isaiah 65:5)   Surely that stench is worse than any we encounter here on earth.  “Sorry, God.”

As I continued my walk, my thoughts continued, too.  Stinky waste and refuse are an unavoidable part of our existence on this planet.  Bad behaviors and sinful worship are not.  Instead of living and worshipping (or failing to worship at all)  in a way that rises like a stench to the Lord, we can live and worship in ways that rise up like a pleasing fragrance, instead.  We should live this way not only to be pleasing to God, but also to help lead others to Him, as stated in  2 Corinthians 2:15:  For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 

No more stinkin’ thinkin’ (or behavior) for me.  I want to be a pleasing fragrance to the Lord and those around me, too. 

The garbage trucks continued to be with me until I turned onto our street.  As I walked up the hill that leads to our house, a fresh breeze began to blow.  I wanted to gulp it in to rid myself of the garbage smell stuck in my nose.  All I could think as I approached our house was that I could use some aroma therapy!  God responded with humor in His tone to say, “I could use some, too!”    So noted, God.  We’ll try to do better. 

May the fragrance of goodness be all about you as you seek to please Him, too.  God bless you!

Renee

Take Time to Rest

Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  Six days a week are set apart for your daily duties and regular work, but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God.    – Exodus 20:8-10

“I slept, therefore I am,”   I thought when I woke up this morning feeling much better today than I did yesterday.

  I hit a brick wall yesterday (figuratively speaking).  Since school started,  things have been good but hectic.  This past week especially – busy days, late nights when my son stayed up doing homework, and 4:00-4:30 a.m. wake-up times started my days.  By yesterday I was drained.  My spirits were good, thoughts still positive, but physically I was done.  Not only did I feel exhausted, I was also getting warning signs/symptoms of fatigue.

With much regret I cancelled out of yesterday’s commitments knowing I had to take time to rest.  I did only the chores and errands that were necessary.  My only trips out were to a restful hair appointment, picking up my son from school, and getting our dog from the vet.   I fixed a no-fuss meal, kept clean-up simple, and then spent the evening resting until I could go to bed. 

I felt guilty that I’d cancelling out of plans, but I knew I had to take time to rest.  If not, I’d have run myself down completely, my physical symptoms would have gotten worse, and I’d be forced to take a longer time-out which would mean I have to cancel more plans and back out of more committments. 

I had to tell myself that taking time to rest isn’t selfish.  It’s necessary.  It’s even biblical!  Included in the Ten Commandments is the commandment to rest, and the Ten Commandments appear twice!  (Genesis, chapter 20 and Deuteronomy, chapter 5)  We know from 2 Timothy 3:26-17 that all scripture is  ‘God inspired’, so if God inspired the Ten Commandments to be stated twice, then they must be important!  Consequently, the commandment to observe the  ’sabbath’ , which commands us to take time to rest, must be important, too!  Nowhere in the Bible does God lead His people to run themselves ragged and get stressed out.  He commands us to do the opposite.  After six days of work and labor, God commands us to rest. 

Unfortunately, America’s way of life doesn’t encourage us to observe the Sabbath, and it certainly doesn’t provide a balance between work, play and rest.  We have to examine our schedules and carve out the time needed for rest. 

A friend stated it well in Bible study one day when she said, “If God could create the world in six days and then take a day of rest, shouldn’t we be able to do our work in six days and take a day of rest, too?” 

Further, the prescribed Sabbath Day was not just a day of rest to restore ourselves physically.  It was also a day to worship and reflect on the Lord so that we could refresh and restore ourselves spiritually, too.  

Are you taking the necessary time you need to rest and refresh yourself physically and spiritually? 

If not, how might you and your loved ones benefit if you were better rested  and better fed spiritually?

How might your job performance improve?  (At home and/or in a work setting)

How might YOU benefit from being well-rested and spiritually refreshed? 

 

May you find the time you need to rest and be refreshed, and may God bless and keep you. 

Renee

RELATED POSTS: 

“Are you burdened?  Take My yoke. – Jesus”  (Archives April 15 2007)

“Saving the Sabbath” (Archives March 2008)

Mistake Period

My older son is on a high school JV football team.  His coach has ‘mistake period’ after each practice for players who were late, absent the day before, spoke inappropriately, acted inappropriately, didn’t follow instructions, and various other infractions.  In mistake period, the coach has the players run and do various exercises that are not pleasant to do – and this is done AFTER an already physically demanding practice.  No one wants to stay for mistake period!  This makes it a very good thing.

By imposing mistake period, the coach is teaching the boys that there are significant consequences for bad choices, wrong-doing, and inappropriate behavior.  He’s also giving them the ability to avoid mistake period by following the rules. What a great way to bring about discipline.

 I spoke with a player today who had to stay for mistake period when he missed the first part of the practice due to a doctor’s appointment.  He’s a  good kid and didn’t expect the partial absence for a doctor’s appointment to be cause for mistake period, but it was.  I felt sorry for him that he had to suffer such consequences, but admire the coach for what he’s doing.  He’s consistently holding his players to the same standards and making examples out of those who mistakes.  Consequently, players are very mindful to follow rules, follow instructions, and do whatever it takes to avoid the fate of mistake period. 

As I thought about this today, I thought about the ‘mistake periods’ in my life.  Many were self-imposed as the result of bad choices.  Some mistakes might not have brought about consequences right away, but consequences caught up with me eventually!  Thinking further about this, I realized God imposes His mistake periods in much the same way as the coach.  He lets us know what is expected of us, warns us that there will be consequences if we fail to obey, and then fairly and consistently imposes mistake periods as needed.   The Bible is full of stories and examples of people not following God’s instructions and finding themselves in His mistake periods.  Our times today are full of the same. 

God put his Play Book out there for us.  The rules are clear.  His warnings are clear.  Still we fail to heed His rules and teachings, and eventually mistake period catches up with us.  However, the good news is that God follows up His mistake periods with forgiveness and grace if we seek it.  His Play Book tells us He does not keep track of wrong-doings and that His mercies are new every morning! 

God erases the stats with our errors, fumbles, and missed attempts when we seek Him with a willingness to go with His grace and make a better play next time.  Praise be to God!