Why Rest?

 

Why Rest?

Over committed, under energized, and internally exhausted!?  As many of you read this your thinking, “Yea, that’s me, but hey, I’m ok!” My prayer in sharing this devotion is that you realize that you are not ok.  No one is when we hit this place.  And for the believer, we know, our Father demands rest, not as a burden, but as a necessity to a full life in Christ. 

Woe to us America, a nation know for days full of go, go, do, do, and everyone be “busy busy” because that’s the norm now.  Daily, we are going to work, working too much at work, thinking about work while not at work, working while not working, taking children here and there, meetings all day just to have another meeting(ya’ll all know what this means!!), planning meals, cooking meals, or not cooking meals and choosing to just going to eat out, so on and so on. 

Then there is the new and improved “social network”, Facebook, twitter, LinkedIN, many others, and I’m sure we will see “the Latest” come out tomorrow.  Oh yea, let’s not forget “There’s an app for that…”, or if you cant find the information just “Google” it!  Life and busyness not only surrounding us, but if we want to, only a click of a button away!

Unfortunately, our world is now functioning off of these things, verses using them as assets or plusses when needed.  Busyness in the year 2012 comes with a whole new meaning.  So much so, that you can be so consumed in it, that you are deceiving yourself that your not busy.  That’s just plain vanity! And all this said with understanding, these things in themselves are not “bad” and if anything “good”, but too much of a good thing is not so good!

We can all confess that we are caught up in this a lot, whether by choice, survival, or just mere addiction.  And if we are really honest with ourselves we have become so addicted and deceived that we 

1. Cannot say “no”, and are absorbed and taken away from real relationships around us...

2. We like it so much that we use it as an excuse to avoid priorities in our life, like taking care of our own bodies, and others whom we love, or...

3. Without busyness we lose our sense of identity and purpose, and are scared to death of “not” having something to do.  We let busyness become what make us or breaks us, and use it to keep our status, or to avoid our true status, overcommitted, under energized, and internally exhausted!

Many times throughout the day, I find myself interacting with the community.  I love to engage with others and find out how they are doing.  “How are you!?” I will ask, “Busy!” I get as a reply, accompanied with a sigh, which I can’t tell means something like, “I’m so glad I’m busy”, or “I’m so tired of being busy!”.  It’s almost an ire paradox!  One that I myself have said to others on certain days. 

There is a battle that goes on within all of us as we think, “Well, being busy is good isn’t it? But why am I so tired of it? And why do I keep pursuing it!?”  A battle that we have MUST bring balance to!

Now, all of us can agree, there are seasons of life where being busy is necessary, because the duties and necessities of life all come at the same time.  Sometimes it is work requirements, other times family situations that require more of your time, and the all famous situation, both issues at the same time!  So, truth be told, we all experience life busyness, and it is just how the cookie crumbles.

So, hear me as I address the seasons in between, and honestly, the times where we are all shooting our own selves in the foot with toiling, vanity, mindless activities, and senseless work that really, in the end, has no benefit, and if anything is killing relationships and Jesus’ gracious offer of life to the full. 

Believer, is this really how God created us? Despite the fact he had to save us from our sinfulness and is continuing to reconcile sinners to himself, is this really the life He desired for us to experience?  So much busyness that we don’t know if we are coming or going, what we have or haven’t done, and so lost in our own selves that we have no sense of what’s going on? 

Did our God, maker of the heavens and the earth, maker of all things in 6 days, and resting on the 7^th, create us to be consumed in mindless activities?  Or as he did on the 7^th day, rest in all his work, desire for us to do the same, and take time to rest, reflect and be renewed?  Now, be reminded that our God, didn’t take the 7^th day to rest because he was tired from the other 6!  Oh no, He was simply satisfied in his work, so much so, that he rested to enjoy it, reflect on it, and declare it “holy”. 

What can we learn from this? 

-That, there are days to work and days to rest. 

-Times to take care of business, and times to reflect on your work, be renewed by time away from it, and enjoy the relationships that surround you! 

-To take time to worship the Father by rejoicing in His ways, His mercies over your ways, and His love he has poured over you. 

-To rest in the knowing that despite all your vanity and toiling, you can rest in the assurance of your salvation, and the joy of life in Jesus. 

-That despite even your mindless pursuits and restless ways you can rejoice that our Father weaves everything together for His Glory. 

-That in the rest of down time we can fill ourselves with the alive and renewing Word of God, and there we find true life, and a real, tangible way to deal with the issues of this fading world.

Each of us needs rest.  We all need time to unwind our senses, our bodies, our spirits, and to reflect on the happenings (past and present) verses what “has” to happen (future). Our future is ordered by the Lord, this we can trust in faith, by “believing of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Oh, how your life will take such a new meaning when you rest, reflect, and recover in the shadow of the Almighty!  A refuge of mercy, grace, and love.  No place of toil and vanity. All that is necessary is that we take time to do this, or “not to do”, however you see it! 

I pray today that you take time to rest.  If you need help, ask the Holy Spirit to help you rest.  He wants to.  Come to him all who are weary and burdened and He will give you rest, take his yoke upon you, and learn from Him, for He is gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For his yoke is easy, and his burden is light!

May you experience rest today, the way our Father designed it for you, away from the toil of this present world, and into the promise of eternal life in the next! 

Feelings or Faith

Things have been burdensome lately. One of the things that I have struggled with in my walk with the Lord has to do with feelings and faith. So often our culture focuses on how we feel about something. We use our feelings as the deciding factor on so many things from politics to our personal faith in God. Our filter on life cannot be based on how we feel because our emotions portray a distortion of what the truth is. This I know from first hand experience but also because I have observed it destroy the lives of many. What we do when we act and react to life with feelings does not just affect us, it affects those we are around. As a believer this is why we are commanded to love each other. We cannot in our own strength respond in faith, hope, and love which is why we need the Holy Spirit (Rom. 12:1-3).

I have been reading in Romans 12 and 2 John today and what they both have been speaking to is the life of a Christian and what I have noticed is how the consistent appeal is not to feelings but to faith...but faith not as we so often think but faith that has action. Consider what Paul is telling those in Romans 12:1, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Does he take them first to how they feel? No, he takes them to the character of God, "the mercies of God". Then he takes them to how to respond to this truth...sacrifice as worship.

In 1 John 5:1-3, we find John going to belief in Jesus and love of God the Father as an evidence of being a child of God. John continues in describing our knowledge of God by actions of love, "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome." He also gives us the promise that God's commands are not burdensome. Isn't this the opposite of what we think? This plays itself out in our lives in so many ways. How often do we despair because things aren't going the way we feel that they should? Don't we find ourselves complaining and whining about our circumstances? I know that I do and I have to repent of that sin in my life. But the glorious joy we can have is that Jesus paid for those sins and even more powerful that he overcame them when he rose from the dead! Thank the Lord for his overwhelming grace and his Spirit that we can call to when we need wisdom and strength (when I am weak, he is strong).
I've been going through what seems like a relentless cycle of the need to feel independent...that I can do things in my own strength and in my own understanding. That is a recipe for disaster (lean not on your own understanding). When I operate on my own I am alienating the body of Christ and even the Holy Spirit. God has given us the Church as a way to encourage and strengthen us. Many see the Church in an unhealthy way, and I have been there but by God's grace and the Spirit's work, I am seeing the beauty of the brokenness in the body of Christ. When we are commanded to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, we aren't left with a vague picture of what that looks like, we are left with a clear picture. Listen to Paul's words:
"Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

May the Lord continue to grow in us a faith that is sure and founded upon His Word. May we be obedient to what he commands and not fall prey to our feelings. When we do fall, may we repent. Most of all, let us glorify God in our love for him and our love for others.

It's been a while...

Sorry for the lapse in posts. Life has been a bit hectic...God has been good and faithful. We are sending Mandi to the Dominican Republic tomorrow! She will be meeting with our friends and family there and seeing first hand and participating in a training camp for Meeting God in Baseball. This will be the first time that either of us will have worked directly with this ministry which is a huge step for us as we are now raising our support under Meeting God in Baseball as they are our 501 C 3 and financial accountability.

Some other fun things that have taken place...

 We had a few neighborhood children and friends come over and eat some chili and smores!

As our heart for the Dominican grows, it is awesome to be able to use the things that the Lord has blessed us with to reach our neighbors with the Gospel by building relationships with them. One of the families we met this past weekend is from Israel and the family is Muslim. I'm not sure how devout they are but how awesome that the Lord has put us in the same neighborhood! Please be praying for Sana and Sammy as we have opportunity to share Jesus with them. Also, pray for these sweet little girls and their mother.

Mandi and I had the opportunity to share with Collide Ministries last night on "repentance". It was a wonderful time of teaching for us and we pray that we communicated the importance and essence of what repentance is. The Lord has been such a great foundation for our marriage and it has been amazing to see what He has done in our short time so far. We pray that He continues to lead and guide us and to use us for the furtherance of sharing Christ to the world.

Updates on finances: As of today, we are around 35% of our monthly support...65% more to go! We would ask that you pray for us and help us in any way possible. We are still seeking out monthly supporters. If you know of others who would be interested in helping us with proclaiming Christ through baseball and equipping pastors and church leaders in the Dominican Republic then please contact us. We are excited about the future and the opportunities that will open up. There is a vision to branch out into other countries while using baseball and BILD teachings.

Please contact us with any opportunities to share regarding our plans for ministry in the Dominican Republic. We would love to meet with our friends, family, and churches to see how we can partner together in taking the Gospel to the Dominican Republic and to our own cities.