iShineInMinistry

Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; On Wednesday night I couldn’t sleep.

On Thursday I was having crying fits. On Friday I lost my brunch (twice) while out with a friend. On Saturday, I had a nosebleed. After reflecting on all the stress-induced ailments I encountered this week, I concluded that I needed rest and I needed to CALM DOWN!

I think we get too frantic in ministry sometimes and begin to make ourselves crazy as we try to serve Him. We have the heart to do all unto the glory of the Lord, but our bodies remind us that we really are only human. We can’t get 72 hours worth of tasks completed in 24 hours and that is just a fact. Yet time and time again we want to make sure that everything is completed and that nothing falls through the cracks in the myriad of things involved with full-time ministry. Then our bodies go on strike and we are rendered useless anyway, drained, distraught and feeling dismayed.

Psalm 4:8 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Sometimes I think that we think we are being lazy when we have the nerve to get rest, knowing that we have not finished all of the things that cluttered our to-do list. It is biblical to rest and we need to be renewed each night so we can be diligent in the work of the ministry with happy, joyful hearts. I should have known that I needed to stop at day two, yet I had to get all the way to day four before I really sat back and realized what my body had been furiously telling me for the past few days. I hope to not let myself get to this point again before I decide to sit still; but I know that even in those times God will be faithful to speak to my heart and minister to me even in the busyness and mayhem. Then He will gently remind me it’s time for a time-out and that I need to sit still and calm down.

Psalm 46:10 Be still and know that I am God;

Are you stressed and feeling like you just can’t get everything done? Do you need rest and time to just sit before the Lord? How will you carve that time out today?