Have you ever had one of those relaxing satisfying moments when everything looks perfect, the atmosphere is inviting for you to curl up and enjoy a time of sitting and reflecting, maybe read a book or just stare out the window and listen to quietness of the day?
I am having one of those rare moments. I was recently blessed with a new to me sofa set. I love change. Switching up a room can give me a new more inviting environment that can spark my creativity.
I put this oversized chair near my picture window. I can sit in it and stare out the window, pray, curl up with a book or just sit in the quiet. I could not wait to get home today just to get in this chair and rest. Dan made me a latte. I always joke and tell everyone I have my very own personal barista. The man can make a mean latte! One of the many things I am thankful for is a husband that has no problem doing something for me and encouraging me to rest. Can I say, “thank you Jesus!”
Beside me resting on the arm of the chair is my bible opened to where I left off yesterday and a book I have been reading on Trust by one of my favorite women preachers. To me it is a picture-perfect moment. So much so that I had taken a picture of it. This sparked me to share this moment and share the importance of allowing ourselves to take these moments.
Right now, I am reflecting on a word the Lord put in my spirit for the new year. I usually get this word to focus on during prayer and fasting, but he gave it to me earlier. Last year the word I focused on was “peace be still”. The year before that, “a new thing”. This year of 2025 is “refresh and renew”. We are embarking on coming up on the anniversary of our fourth year of full-time tent ministry. Though we have been in ministry 26 years, the past 3 years have been very busy and productive. I thank God for the strength and provision he has provided.
I know how busy it can get. It never feels like I am busy but I am. The word for the new year gives me an anticipation! Jesus is coming back soon. There is an urgency in the spirit to get out there and tell everyone Jesus loves them and is coming back soon. People are lost and on their way to hell, being deceived and lied to. It is not a time to slow down. It is a time to become busier about the kingdom of God than we have ever been. But we can’t do it alone. We need the strength that can only come from our heavenly father. To get it we need to rest ourselves when possible and renew our minds in the word and pray. The running here and there thinking we must be the one to do it all is a distraction the enemy has put in place to keep us busy and tired.
He has used this tactic on many of us for years. It can be by doing the right thing like taking care of family, to helping a friend. The desire to do our part can be another way. We will quickly be the one to do it because no one else is stepping up to the plate to do it. Maybe even not take the opportunity we have silently been believing for because who would do what “I” have been doing?
I am certainly not trying to talk us out of being a blessing, helping or sacrificing of ourselves. But unless we take the time to refresh and renew, we are missing out on the rest and provision he wants to provide us. We can be so busy and become addicted to the satisfaction we feel by getting so much done that we become weak. Our bodies will give out on us. We will destroy relationships and hurt ourselves and others when we are not taking the time to rest.
God never intended us to be the savior. Jesus did that for us. He never intended us to be the one to do it all. The word “no” can be powerful, uncomfortable and sounds awful to us. But should it? It really is not a bad word. When used the first few times it does feel unnatural, and we never want to come across as rude or disrespectful. It is important to know how to use it though.
One thing I noticed in my personal life is the importance of resting after we come home from a meeting. The minute I get in the car, and we pull out of the hotel I am texting work saying I will be back in the office on such and such day. I get a text back “are you sure, don’t you need a rest?” Then I am making a grocery list, planning out what needs done and exactly how much I can fit in. This tremendous amount of guilt hits me after a meeting telling me I didn’t do enough. All these things await me while I have been out having fun. Yes, I said having fun. There is no greater joy than doing the work of the ministry. Yet I have allowed the enemy to rob me of the joy after it is all done. Biting on the guilt he tries to lay on me. The guilt of putting others in a bind doing my work. Guilt of not having been home if my family needed me. I have allowed myself to feel guilty there is not food in the house because we have been gone, or that the laundry needed done probably yesterday and my husband may not have clean jeans. It is ridiculous. I needed to recognize we were busy and poured out a lot during the meetings and I was tired. Because I was tired stress, and fear came knocking on my door and I opened it. I didn’t realize I was tired, nor did I rebuke the enemy, or allow myself to rest in my body and mind.
I think about Elijah how he fled to the wilderness out of fear. He had a moment of desperation and wanted God to end his life. Instead, God provided rest to him.
Finding time to rest strengthens us and renews our mind. It helps us overcome the fears and weariness that can taunt us. It helps us learn to put our trust in our heavenly father. I often say show me a person who does not have an off switch, and I can most likely show you something within them that has a fear they need to deal with. Again, I say, “we can’t do it all”!
Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
There will be times that will need spent helping family, a little more time working or tackling a project at home or helping with something at church. Understand that these instances will not excuse us from rest. Balance is important. I can guarantee the enemy will even keep us busy with ministry to the point we can collapse. I have seen it! There is nothing wrong with having an urgency, but we are not God! We are not any good to the kingdom or our families if we are not getting refreshed and renewed often by going to Him for rest.
It is time to switch up our room from within. Rearrange our priorities and allow a time of refreshing for ourselves, rest and renew your mind. You do not have to do this running on empty. Shake off the guilt and lies that have been thrown your way. Regroup and tell yourself it is okay to take time to rest in the Lord. That rest will give you strength and strategy for what is to come. Brothers and Sisters in Christ I encourage you today to REFRESH AND RENEW!