Rest and Balance Part 1

One of the reasons I love gate pictures is because I love to imagine what could be on the other side. Yesterday I was tired and grouchy. I spent some time visualizing what could be on the other side and mentally chose to walk through it. I chose to walk towards peace and joy, towards embracing God’s character and being in that field which is God’s presence. Over the last four weeks of being sick and needing to rest my body, I talked with God about my purpose and how to be intentional about my relationships. Intentional has become quite a word in our house I will share in another post. His intention for me in my ministries (as a chaplain, counselor, blogger, teacher, mom etc) is to show his love, to be an ambassador for Him. That is the root of my actions.

“For God so loved the world, he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him, will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged…” John 3:16-18a

Later Jesus goes on to say, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.” John 4:34  Who are we to God? What is our relationship with Him? We ask ourselves so many related questions to these but what impact do they have on our lives as we interact with others. If I know I am made with fear and wonder, that I am loved by God, King of Kings, Creator of the Universe, that Jesus came to die for me and He is coming back for me, how did I hear this? I saw it played out in the lives of other Christ followers. I saw God’s love in those who showed me. My role now is to show that same love to the world.

“That’s our job. It’s always been our job. We’re supposed to just love the people in front of us. We’re the ones who tell them who they are. We don’t need to spend as much time as we do telling people what we think about what they’re doing. Loving people doesn’t mean we need to control their conduct. There’s a big difference between the two. Loving people means caring without an agenda. As soon as we have an agenda, it’s not love anymore. It’s acting like you care too get someone to do what you want or what you think God wants them to do. Do less of that, and people will see a lot less of you and more of Jesus.” Bob Goff, Everybody Always

I so strongly desire to have the characteristics of Jesus. Jesus is compassionate, patient, prayerful, loving, a servant, forgiving and humble. He came to serve, not to be served. He was and is all those things all the time. I however am not. When I have a cold, I am super grumpy. When I am tired or hungry, I’m pretty focused on meeting my own needs. Recently, I read an article, The 10 Most Common Signs that You Have a Tired Soul. This reminded me that not just physical tired but soul tired exists. I was reminded that soul tired also diminishes my ability to show God’s love.

In my vulnerability, my weakness and my very humanity, God is able to work but He never set out to make me miserable to share his Gospel message. God can use weakness doesn’t mean he meant to make us weak. There is a balance. I’ve written before about what humility is and is not.

I desire to thrive and I love sharing God’s love. I have learned how to manage the obstacles. A big part of that balance is knowing when to rest and when to surge. I am by no means an expert and every person is different. There are times I make fantastic strides. Other times I just rest and soak in God’s presence. These past few weeks I have been very sick. Four weeks with a draining cold that left me taking steroids and antibiotics meant a lot of down time to let my body heal. I didn’t have the energy to write but I did read. I prayed through things I may have been avoiding thinking about previously. Now as I come out of the resting period I can switch gears. I am super thankful for that since Christmas is only in a few weeks!!!!

I want to know what you do for rest and balance. I love naps. Dan loves running. We both love bullet journaling. We can even compile a list and I can share it here of ways to find balance and rest. Remember, we are all different. Running is not rest to me. Dan is always grumpy after naps. Lets take this journey together.