Rest
Rest is a lot more vital to your spiritual health than you may realize.
Here’s what I learned, exhaustion blinds you to both the flow of the Holy Spirit as well as the schemes of the enemy. Whenever I get extremely exhausted, which is pretty often, the Lord sends me a dream of myself attempting to live my normal life, but while being blind and extremely drowsy as if I’m drunk, and in need of guidance. See, when we neglect rest, we become spiritually vulnerable.
I want to start by saying, because you need to take a day or two to recuperate does not mean that you are lazy or weak, it means that you’re human. Even God in all His glory, rested after a job well done (see Genesis 2:2). In my old apartment I used to host bible study once a week. Usually, I’d work until about 5:00 PM, then as soon as I’d get off I’d begin preparing for the meeting by cleaning and getting food. Around 9/10 PM we’d start finishing up, and by then, you could only imagine just how exhausted I had become. Sometimes, I’d find myself just sitting there, listening, as they spoke because I felt too weak to even get involved. So, during that time of my life, normally my weekdays would consist of me working everyday from 8-5, working out from 6-8 every other day, and bible study from 7-9 one day out of the week. My weekends were reserved for family time (birthday parties, baby showers, breakfast, cookouts, etc). My life seemed to have never stopped, and I was determined to keep up with it. Eventually, God had to move me, and in doing so He made me aware of the error of my ways. On multiple occasions the Lord highlighted to me how spiritually blind I had become in my own home during that time, due to extreme exhaustion.
Because I was doing God’s work, and keeping up with my life I felt as if I was doing what was right by running myself dry. Life became extremely heavy, spiritually I was too weak to discern my surroundings, mentally I was falling back into my old depressive ways, and physically, I began to fall very sick, very often. See, God began to teach me that I didn’t need to do more in order to be worthy in His eyes (See Zechariah 4:6). And due to personal worries, He also taught me that if people began to see me as unreliable, or disloyal because I couldn’t make it to every one of their events, most likely they’ve been searching for an opportunity to find fault in me all along. So, I had to start doing less, and saying “no” more, for my own good.
God gave me an interesting analogy the other day. My car broke down, and I backed up traffic for about an hour. I had run out of gas, but for some reason, I hadn’t noticed. While broken down, men prompted me to shift my car into neutral so they could push it out of the road, but oddly the car wouldn’t allow me to shift, so I just stayed there until somebody came with gas. A little later I asked God what that situation was all about because I’ve found that throughout my life nothing just happens, and I know that God is always trying to teach or show me something new any chance He gets. Instantly, He said to me, that if I were to shut down, all those connected to me will too experience delay. He emphasized this by there being absolutely no way for my car to move without refueling, hence, there being no way for me to shift into neutral so that I could experience movement. I’d like to say that movement here symbolizes us moving within or towards our purpose (basically living life according to God’s will). What God was trying to get me to understand is that the completion of God given tasks would be impossible without us having the strength to do what God asks of us, and to do so accurately. God wants you to know that you’re called to lead many and walk alongside a few, and whether they know it or not, each, in one way or another, are counting on you remaining in the will of God for your life. Now, if you do not, God will raise up another to do what you would not, but that’s not your story, your story will be victory.
Through rest we once again become in tune with the flow of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is our guide as we walk into and throughout our purpose. If we become out of tune with the flow of the Holy Spirit, we then begin to fall off of the path of purpose. See, there is nothing outside of the Spirit of God that can move you towards the will of God for your life, so all you can do is refuel, so you may remain in tune with the Spirit.
What refueling looks like:
Physically slowing down
Seeking counsel on how to balance the demands of everyday life
Being intentional about spending more time with the Lord
Prayer and meditation
Unplugging
Biggest take away:
Pertaining to the call on our lives: there is NOTHING we can do without the strength given by the Holy Spirit. It’s important to realize that we are still a part of this human experience, therefore, we will at some point succumb to human limitations, some of which can only be cured through rest. Rest is God's solution for exhaustion. Physically tired, take a nap. Spiritually tired, rest in God’s presence. Rest serves as a restorative approach, when your entire body is at its best (physically), and you prioritize seeking the Lord during times of extreme exhaustion, as a result, mentally and spiritually you will too be at your best.
P.S-
This journey is different for us all, and our life circumstances do not all look the same, so it’s important to take this message, and EVERYTHING to the Lord in prayer, and allow Him to confirm to you how He desires for you to experience rest in the midst of your busy schedule in this season of your life; ask Him what current habits can you afford to replace with a moment of rest and recovery.
Scripture to reflect on:
Psalm 23: 1-3
1) The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2) He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. 3) He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Psalms 62:5-6
5) Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. 6) Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
Mathew 11:28-30:
28) Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29) Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30) For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Zechariah 4:6:
6) So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.
