I have highs and lows like nearly every other person on earth. I have moments when I am ready to take on the world and moments when I would rather take on a day in bed!

I know this about myself. I know that no matter how pumped I am today, in a few days I may feel completely deflated. In fact, I’m sure I’ve had moments when I go from pumped to deflated in 60 seconds! It’s called life.

Because I know this about myself, I prepare. I surround myself with words of encouragement as much as possible. I have notes to myself all over the place exhorting me to not give up, to keep going, to live every day to the fullest. I know there will be moments when I feel I can’t go on and it’s all pointless effort. So, in the moments when “Miss I-Can-Do-It” is in control, I prepare myself for when “Miss Why-Do-I-Bother” tries to take me for a plunge.

I have highs and lows like nearly every other person on earth. I know that no matter how pumped I am today, in a few days I may feel completely deflated. It’s called life. Because I know this about myself, I prepare. But all my efforts to keep my attitude good and keep going are hampered if I am not also doing one very important thing. Come read about the secret sauce that keeps me going! #ChristianBlog #Rest

But all of those efforts to keep my attitude good and keep going are hampered if I am not also doing one very important thing: resting. Honestly, “Miss I-Can-Do-It” can be exhausting! Sometimes, my over-exuberance for living fully can cause an opening for lethargy and defeat.

This is where wisdom comes in. I want to live my life to the fullest, but a huge part of living that life is restful quiet.

What? I thought we were supposed to live loud, be all we can be, make a splash, never say die! True enough, but the place where we get our strength to do all those things well is birthed from the moments of quiet. More importantly the place where we get our reason and direction for running this race comes from the quiet.

Until we are ready to be infused with power and direction as we quietly sit in the Presence of God, we are only going to run in vain. We must be still and know that He is God. Those times of stillness provide us with the ability to see the track we are to run on. Without it, we may be running, but we may not even be on the course that is marked out for us. And running just to say we are running is pointless and exhausting.

It is in the quiet moments with the Lord that I find the encouragement and strength that will keep me going in the mundane, the wearying, the disappointing and the discouraging times.

Many years ago, the Lord convicted me, telling me that He created light and dark as a daily cycle for a reason: I need to allow myself a time to rest. Day and night are “good,” and I need to accept the one as well as the other. I need to not only make time rest with the Lord, but time to rest in general. How are your boundaries with yourself? Are you effectively reining yourself in when it’s time to stop working, stop planning, stop racing to the next thing?

Even Jesus, who only had three and a half years in which to minister here on earth, often went off alone to pray. Why would He show us this example if it were not vital to our spiritual (as well as emotional and physical) wellbeing to get away from it all and rest in the Secret Place with the Father?

Our communion with the Lord is the daily bread, the manna, we pray for. We must gather it daily, just as the Israelites did in the wilderness. God wants us to live with His fresh bread and He is very willing to provide it.

Notice when the manna fell from heaven: It wasn’t after a long day of working hard or after laboring for the Lord. It was after the Israelites had rested. It was available when they awoke from sleeping. There is food from heaven that will be yours as you rest with God in intimate fellowship.

So, by all means, make the most of every day you are given. Do your work excellently and to the best of your ability. Work hard and never give up. But also, remember that part of making the most of every day is making sure you will have the strength to be your best tomorrow. How? Rest and refuel with the Lord.

“It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep” (Psalm 127:2).

Read the FREE RESOURCE, “4 Ways to Strengthen Yourself in the Lord” so you can get powered up for what’s ahead of you! Click HERE for access.

And read the blog titled, “God’s Presence; Our Oxygen” for more on the vital need for time with the Lord by clicking HERE.

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Make the Most of Every Moment… by Resting??