Saturday, November 3, 2012

Take a Break!


“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (Mark 6:31)

How often do you give yourself permission to take a break? Believe it or not, some of us need to actually schedule downtime and lay down some rules to rest and relax! Going, going, and going all the time will not get you where you truly desire to be! Life gets so busy these days and I think we often forget that it is okay to treat ourselves to a nice break and a little relaxation. Life doesn’t stop; there’s always plenty to do, places to go, and people to see. But in the midst of all these things, we need to give our body and our thoughts the rest they need to restore and recover. Whatever length of time we allow ourselves to be inactive and recuperate will restore our energy and our focus, and we’ll actually be more productive and maintain better balance. After all, when we take a break and unclutter our minds, we become more available to be still and rest in God’s presence.

“The promise of ‘arrival’ and ‘rest’ is still there for God’s people. God Himself is at rest. And at the end of the journey we’ll surely rest with God. So let’s keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out through some sort of disobedience.” (Hebrews 4:9-11 MSG)

As adults, we constantly ignore our body’s signals to slow down, and then wonder why we can’t focus or get more done; we often resist the urge to fill every second with activities. We’ll actually spend time doing things, but we won’t necessarily  be accomplishing more since our focus and endurance suffers when we don’t give ourselves enough time to rest and unwind. And it’s so east for our daily agenda to become over-scheduled, which makes our bodies and minds scream for rest and downtime! It is when we continue to place high demands on ourselves that we become stressed and may even break under pressure, because the demands on our bodies have become so great. The most productive thing we can do is to allow ourselves to rest and find quiet time with God throughout the day. We know that He rested upon the seventh day as a sign to us that we should take time to rest; likewise, Jesus would separate Himself from His disciples and followers in order to rest and pray.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden 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 shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Jesus gives us His supernatural rest by filling our hearts with peace that is beyond understanding. He wants to silence our thoughts so that we will take more notice of Him, and what’s going on around us and inside of us. Quiet times can keep us from squandering our lives away on the unimportant and needless distractions and give us time to refocus our attention on what really matters. We all need to take a rest if we’ve been putting forth to much effort and hard work to accomplish everything we think we have to. Once we have rested for a while, we can get up and get going again. Life is a cycle of effort and rest. Both effort and rest will serve to energize us, as long as we keep them in balance.








Linking up on Spiritual Sunday and Sharing His Beauty


22 comments:

  1. It's 7:30PM here and I'm reading this barely able to keep my eyes open. Looking forward to December when we will be able to have some down time and rest.

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    1. Hope you had a blessed night of sleep Deb!:) Blessings!

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  2. Our women's Bible study is in Hebrews right now and the verse you quoted is very familiar to me right now. That call to rest still stands and I don't want to miss it. Resting is almost a lost art today. Thanks for reminding me again that He is our peace and in his presence is rest.
    Ruth

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    1. So true Ruth; a "lost art" and "in His presence we rest" sum it up perfectly! Thanks for visiting... :)

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  3. Oh my I find myself needing a time of rest, which I plan to take real soon. Wishing you a great week ahead Denise.

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    1. And I hope you do Wanda! :) Wishing you a great week also my friend...

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  4. I agree. We need to give ourselves time to relax.

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    1. I have a heard time following my own advice sometimes Peaches!! :)

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  5. Hi Denise, you know me, I just love these pics. Having a cup of tea/coffee is for me a little unwind in a day. Great post, great encouragement
    God bless my friend
    Tracy

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    1. Thanks Tracy; still praying we can meet together to share a cup and unwind with each other! God bless my friend!

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  6. Definitely God is forcing me to rest, slow down! I used to be a person who walked fast, did so much in a day and had very little patience with others who were so complacent and slow moving. Then last December (can't believe it's been almost a year!) I got deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism and now, I have to walk slow, like a senior citizen! I am always breathless! But God in His goodness prepared me for this season of my life and I am filled with joy and expectation !!! Patsy from
    HeARTworks

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    1. Hi Patsy; what a life change for you! I love your faithful and joyful heart; what an inspiration you are. Sending lots of prayers and love!

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  7. I'm a strong believer in taking some time to rest. However, I don't always get enough. But quiet time each morning helps me. And I love to listen to quiet music and have a cup of coffee or tea at times. But the best way for me to rest is to lay all of my problems and concerns before the Lord. It helps if I don't pick them back up but instead trust Him with the results.

    Blessings and love,
    Debbie

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    1. My quiet times are in the mornings too Debbie, however I need to learn to take a little more throughout the day! So many distractions can make me lose focus on the things that really matter! :) Hugs!

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  8. I did a post today on Rest and than I saw your post you did on Saturday I tell you God is truly speaking to us about this resting in Him...To God be the glory

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    1. Oh yes, and I need to listen and obey more throughout my day Desiray! :) Blessings my friend!

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  9. Denise, taking a break is ideal. Thank you for sharing. Blessings.

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  10. O Denise, this is blog special written for me ;-) Taking a break is hard for me ( as woman with ADHD) but spite of that, I love the word of Jesus: "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest".

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  11. Hi Denise,
    Wise words indeed. Thank you for sharing this most needed reminder.
    God bless,
    Ken

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  12. reading your blog makes me want to be sure I take those needs times of rest.

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  13. Very blessed by your thoughts today! Your blog is lovely.

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  14. I am discovering that God counts rest as "godliness." It takes us out of our American mindset of "working and performing."

    It seems that now that I've chosen the "work from rest" lifestyle, God does more than ever to accomplish his work!

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