Get some rest

In the last two weeks I’ve been physically tired. I mean really, really tired. And I find that when we get physically tired, we also get spiritually and emotionally tired. Lately I haven’t felt like extending or exerting any kind of pressure on myself. As a matter of fact I came to a point where there was no strength to fellowship with others or to even pray.
But friends, this has been a dangerous place to be. It’s a place of vulnerability and I’m thankful to God that no serious temptation has come my way. Imagine a woman half way into labor who suddenly loses the strength to push. How distressful the end would be. No wonder Jesus always took the time to rest. "For the Lord God says, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength" Is 30:15. Life in itself is a struggle. Taking the time out to rest sometimes requires strong determination and it is necessary. No wonder Apostle Paul said in Phil 3:14, "I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." These scriptures say to me that it takes effort to live and sometimes that effort may mean taking a break to refresh so that you can keep on keeping on.
In 2Kings 4, the Bible gives an account of the Shunammite widow. This woman had been going on until she could go no further. Then God visited her when the man God instructed her to fetch all the jars or vessels she could lay her hands on. The verse that struck me the most was verse 7. You see the woman could have had a lot more jars of oil but she said to the man of God Elisha, "there is not another vessel" and the Bible says the oil ceased. She was not prepared for more blessings and so the blessings stopped. She could have had a lot more. Dear Ones, God is looking for vessels to pour into but those vessels must be ready. Refresh, shake of the lethargy and get back to God so that He could fill you.
You see it finally dawned on me that money gives you choices and so I had gone on an investment binge and was quite determined that there was going to be no vacations for me this year. But you know something…a refreshing holiday is an investment too. Some of those planned investments can wait. Right now I can’t decide whether it’s going to be Ghana or Nairobi or Venice or Portugal but one thing’s for sure, I’m going to get some rest…What about you?
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak,
and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. Is 40: 28-31.

July 2004.