During the school year, I feel like a wild woman juggling all my advanced classes, cross country/track, youth group, church, and hopefully sneaking in some time with my family, friends, and boyfriend. Even now during the summer, I'm still so busy. I've got trips and activities and cross country training and people to spend time with. It most definitely can be draining. I often go to bed feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, and I know I don't have near as much going on as some other people!
I know for a fact that I am not alone in the middle-of-the-crazy place. I know for a fact that about 95% of us are leading crazy lives, and that's kind of a fact of life, unfortunately. Is anyone else tired, like me? Still feeling alone? Just me? Okay.
Every night, at the same time, I come into my room and spend an hour with the Lord. What I do each night kind of varies, but it's the same purpose: find rest in the Lord. And the Bible reading and journaling is great but honestly, what my soul craves most is to be still at the feet of Jesus. Be still even with the pounding headache and the notifications awaiting me and the to-do list I never finished. Be still and be reminded of who God is.
“Be still and know that I am God.” - Psalms 46:10
In this place, where I can be still and hear God's voice, there's peace. There's peace in the crazy because I know that I am not alone. I know that God has a purpose for me, a plan, and that it will come to fruition even when my schedule is fighting against it. In this place, I find more rest than I ever could in ten hours of sleep because it meets my heart where it's at and fills it up.
If you are in the middle of the crazy right now too, or maybe your soul is just feeling a little bit weary, join me in pausing for a moment. Join me in being still and putting aside the obligations for just one moment so that we can rest in the presence of God. Join me in being still and hear Jesus speak to your heart.
Challenge: Be still, with ZERO distractions, for 5 minutes. Just sit silently and enjoy the moments of rest. Invite God into that place and hear what He desires to speak to you. That 5 minutes of your time is 0.345% of your entire day, and it may just be the refreshment that your soul needs.
In this crazy place, I think of Jesus and how He invited rest into His life (and our lives too). Jesus was constantly on the go, teaching and healing and investing in people. He gave so much of Himself, but we don't really ever see Him exhausted. But we do see Him taking the time to leave the crowds and pray. In fact, we see Him doing this often. He went to "lonely places" and sought God to get refilled and refocused.
Jesus' life revolved around that stillness with His Father. For Him, I don't think it wasn't about how many people He could save or how many sermons He gave. It was about obeying and seeking God with everything He had.
I think we can learn from Jesus. We don't have to constantly be surrounded by people and fill our schedules to the brim with things to do. We can and we should withdraw from the crazy and seek the Lord with all of our hearts and no distractions. We need to prioritize rest; rest for our bodies, minds, and souls. We need to center our lives around our time with the Father, not try to squeeze in time here and there when we've reached our max.
Jesus invites us to lay down our crazy and commit to a life of following Him. He promises that when we do that, we will experience true and genuine rest. He promises that when we do that, we will experience life and life abundantly.
It's just up to us to accept the offer.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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 will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.'" - Matthew 16:24-25
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." - John 10:10
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