Blissful rest...

Bliss. If I had to pick one work to describe this weekend that would be it. David and I packed up our necessities and headed to St. Joseph, MI for the weekend. We didn't know what to expect but I just prayed that God would give our hearts and minds some rest. We have been pretty busy the last few weeks and we always feel that we miss out on the most precious joys of life when we are too busy-each other and the Lord. It was wonderful to sit on the edge of a "cliff" and enjoy the gorgeous raw view of Lake Michigan, slightly tarnished by man but still in all of it's glory. Beautiful. We enjoyed the friendly people walking through the downtown. We even enjoyed staying at a Super 8 hotel- something we worried would be a downer. It was a clean and nice hotel, and the receptionist even gave us the room with new flooring (Bonus!). I really am learning to relax. It is an art form in this life, I'm convinced of that. By rest I don't mean that we live our lives on our couches sipping Coke and catching up with TV shows, I mean rest. That mental state where you fall into the arms of Jesus and un-tense all of your mental and physical muscles. As we enjoyed the blessings of God, the gorgeous sunshine, the warm air and cool breeze it hit me, this is what we have all of the time in Jesus if we just choose it. Maybe not physically, but mentally and spiritually, yes.

Work (in general) is a blessing, through it God provides all kinds of things. He provides money to keep the lights on, character building people to work with, joy and sweat, satisfaction in a job well done and more. But he means for us to rest. In my minds eye I see God looking down at us like ants in an anthill. They seem to never stop, running here and there, I know there's a method to their madness but to me it looks just like that- madness. I believe that in the madness God is trying to speak to us. Why are you striving so much? To earn my love? To forget the past? To measure up to that person you put in front of my love and standard? Have you forgotten that even I have rested, how much more important is it for you?  These are things that I think my be a real "pulse" of American society. Why is it that couples forget who they married? Busyness. They think that work, kids or whatever else they put in the "God and each other" spot is the most important thing and it puts everything else out of whack. When I'm under stress I feel it in my neck, shoulders and upper back. One day the pain was so bad that I couldn't go to work, when I had a massage therapist friend work out my muscles, she told me that the pain I was experiencing was a muscle that was connected across my shoulder to the lower part of my back! Sure enough, I felt it both places when she worked on my lower back. Isn't this how it can be in our lives? When I am feeling unsure of God's love for me, I start to doubt that David could love me, and it puts stress on both relationships. Where is the stress in our lives? What are we holding onto that is taking away from our "first love"? Rest. Remember surrender. Rest in the love that God has for us, that the victory is ours in Jesus. Rest. Rest that our sins are washed away, our night is turned to day! Rest. My friend, are you in need of some rest?