Taste the Butter

   I am not a big fan of bread. I will eat it, but it is not something I am excited about eating. Now, if you asked me to eat toast (which is technically bread but warmed up) I would eat it. Or if you asked me to eat Texas Roadhouse Rolls, I would be there. Why? Texas Roadhouse Rolls are warm and flaky. But what really makes the rolls is the butter. It is cinnamon sugar butter. I'm telling you it is so good, especially on a warm roll.

   But, because it is so good, we use a lot of it. By the time we reach the last roll much of the butter is gone. So, if we use it on the roll the butter is spread very thin. That means it usually does not taste as good as the others do.

   Just like butter, we can be spread too thin. If we do many things during the week, keep busy, and keep working without rest we will be exhausted. Then, when we must get up and do it again, we do not do those things as well as we were originally. We are tired and cannot give as much as we would like to.

   Therefore, it is vital to rest, lest we be spread too thin. Psalm 127:2 says, "It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep." If we are so busy that we are getting up early and going to bed late, then we will be so burnt out we will not be able to give our best to God. Our butter will be spread so thin that we will not taste the goodness of God as much.

   We must take time to rest. To be in silence and solitude. This is how we will be sure we are not spread too thin. God rested on one day of the week for a reason. It was an example for us. He knew we would try to rely on our own power. We would continue to work so much that we would not be able to taste the goodness of life. To enjoy God's blessings and see his glory.

   So, are you being spread too thin? How can you make time to rest and spend time with God? What can you do to rest today?

  

How You Relax

    One day I was doing a devotional for the LBC Women's Soccer Team about stress. I talked about how we all relax in different ways. Some people read. Others watch TV. While others, who are much more devoted than I, may go for a run. It doesn't matter how you do it, but everyone needs to relax at some point or run the risk of burning out.

   During the devotional I asked the girls how they combat stress, or what they do to relax. There were many of the typical answers then one girl said "Jesus." The coach thought she said "cheese." This misunderstanding made everyone laugh. 

   The truth is that Jesus is a good answer for this question. He even encouraged his followers to relax. Mark 6:31 says: "And he said to them, 'Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.' For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat." Jesus recognized that needed to rest. Yet, if you look at this passage in context, this is where Jesus feeds the 5,000. He wanted to rest but he did not let his wants get in the way of an opportunity the Lord gave him.

   Finding a balance of completing the mission God has given you and resting is vital. There will be times we really want to rest but an opportunity comes up. We must be willing to sacrifice as Jesus did. We also must be smart about resting when we have time.

   So, are you resting when you need to/have time to? Are you looking for opportunities to spread the Good News?

You Gotta Slow Down: Labor Day

   Have you ever said to yourself: "I wish I had more time to relax," "I'm too busy to relax," or "I have too much work and I'm exhausted." If you are like me, you have probably said something along those lines before. I have found that as we get older we just become more and more busy. That's probably why there's so much anxiety, stress, and crankiness nowadays.
   I think that we are forgetting something that is very important, not just to our physical health, but our mental health as well. We need rest. This is not a want it is a need. In Genesis 2:2 God does something we may not expect "On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work." Did you catch that? God rested after his work was complete. Does God need to rest? No, he doesn't. Why did he rest? Because, he is the ultimate example for us. He rested because we are to rest. God wants us to work and do our best. But, if we don't rest, or we don't spend time with God, we will get burned out.
   This idea reminds me of something my Aunt used to have. She had this plastic turtle with rubber legs that moved. I thought is was so cool because I didn't have a real pet at the time (bare in mind I was like 5 when I first saw it). The turtle also sang a song that went like this: "You gotta slow down, you're moving too fast. You gotta slow down, let go of the past. You're working too hard, you know it's true. You gotta slow down, and take some time for you."
   Yes, work is important. God calls us to work hard to reflect his glory. But, he also knows we need rest. If we overwork ourselves it will harm our mental and physical health. As well as, we will not do as well at our work and probably hurt others emotionally. That's why we need to listen to the turtle. We need to slow down. We need to relax. We need to spend time with God. It's a hard balance, but an important one nonetheless.
   So, are you overworking yourself? Do you spend time with God each day? What can you do to make sure you rest when you need it?

   2 Timothy 3:16 and Exodus 34:21

   Image from here.