To rest or not to rest? That is the question...

Ready, set, GO!!!! That is how I used to start my day. Everyday. I'd hit the ground running with an idea of the 189,000 things I was going to accomplish that day. I never got them all done. Not even close.

The Western society that we live in rewards hard work and accomplishment. 80-hour-a-week workers are a gem! Unless you're the worker...

So, when I got diagnosed with MS, I knew I was going to have to make some adjustments to my lifestyle, but I had no idea how much I needed to slow down. I needed to slow down regardless of my newly found condition, and I am betting that you could use a little slow down as well. Am I right??? Even God rested...

"In six days I, the Lord, made the earth, the sky, the seas, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested" (Exodus 20:11 TEV).

Pretty cool.

Busying yourself doesn't always make you productive. In fact, the busier you have been that day, the more tired you will be that evening. When I am tired, I am not sharp. I close my ears. I close myself off. I cannot give to my family, my husband, and the creatures God has put in my trust. I'm quicker to snap at James and quicker to snatch on a horse, when what I need to do is just let God lead me. But if I have taken no time for myself or Him that day, I am not "leadable".

Each day I schedule down time. I usually require a nap in the afternoon. And what better way to get relaxed than to spend a little time with the Lord? So in my hour, I do a devotional, read my Bible or simple sit and listen to what God has for me that day. Then I sleep a little while. My afternoon after that resting time is typically fantastic!

Know what the crazy part is? It is extremely hard for me to take that hour each day. I would much rather keep working on the current project (you know, project 91,236...) and go, go, go! But it is much better to go willing to rest rather than have my body quit me for the next two days!!!

As I have mentioned in a previous post, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 tells us that our body is a temple. Take care of it so you can be ready and refreshed when God calls you to do his work. Need a nap? Then go take one. It's OK.