Friday, July 4, 2014

Resting in the Storm

rest here by estherase, on Flickr
Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License   by  estherase 

Rest. Shalom. Sabbath.

Words you may have heard, but so few in our western world truly understand. We are a busy people, scurrying this way and that. A recent report said that most people would rather suffer electrical shocks than be left alone with their own thoughts.

Are we that afraid of ourselves?

Meanwhile, we spend less and less time with the people we 'love' -- more and more distracted by screens in front of us. Checking in on other people's lives, worried about missing anything that we could comment on, like, or repost.

It speaks to our priorities.

Over the past two months I have had plenty of time to be left to my own thoughts. I am an introspective person, and have made it a habit to spend regular time with my thoughts, allowing them to wash over me and to properly process them. It has helped me grow, challenged me and changed me. Spending time with my thoughts has forced me to learn how to rest and face my own selfishness.

Being busy is the easy path. Even while people are exhausted and emotionally drained, they willingly choose that path then growing as a person. It is easier to distract ourselves than to ask ourselves, "Why am I here? What can I accomplish? What can I do differently?"

Contrast that attitude with Jesus. Whenever he approached someone, he often was not concerned with what they were doing, but why they were doing it. He was all about challenging people to stop, rest and reflect on who they really were.

It is about priorities.

For some, they walked away with their head hanging low. The path to salvation was too tough. For others, they found new freedom and release from their baggage.

Your soul does not need a vacation, but it does need to trust. Whatever you are struggling with today, God is bigger and He promises to never leave us alone. Take His hand, spend some time with Him and your thoughts and see what God has in store for you.

You will find your soul renewed, and your heart closer to God.

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