The Call to Rest
"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12 (ESV) This week I learned a lot about God's love for me and that He actually calls us to rest. I'm not talking specifically rest on Sundays, but about rest from constant doing. I love ministry. For quite some time I prayed for God to give me a ministry to be passionate about. A way that I could make a difference. God answered that prayer through many ministry opportunities, but once I got started it became hard for me to say no to any ministry opportunity. Our schedules were really busy this year and I kept hearing God calling us to slow down. I know God calls us to ministry but I didn't realize He also calls us to rest. Recently I was given the opportunity to go on a mission trip this summer (one that I've been praying about for two years) and it happens to fall during the week we were planning to take our family vacation to the beach. That threw a wrench in things. I began to pray about it and felt like I was being led to say no to the mission trip (again). How could God call me to go to the beach and not on this trip? He calls us to serve right? Through prayer and talking it out with my husband and friends, I realized that God calls us to ministry and to rest. I've been so busy saying yes, yes, yes to all of the opportunities I've been presented with that it didn't really occur to me that I could choose rest over yes and it would still be an obedient decision. The key to this decision was really discernment. I can't use rest as an excuse to ignore ministry opportunities that God is calling me to but my goal is to pray through and discern what He is asking me to do and take that step. In this decision I felt God calling me to rest and He confirmed that after I made the decision. I feel so amazed that God loves us so much that He wants us to work and rest. I know that God rested from His work and I am learning that instead of thinking of rest as quitting the work He has called us to, that I need to think of it as recharging so that we can finish the work He's called us to. I'm so grateful that He loves us enough to call us into His rest. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for calling us to ministry and for ministering to us through rest. I pray that we will be obedient to whatever you call us to and use our rest to prepare us for future opportunities. May Your voice always guide our decisions. "Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!" Psalm 90:17 (ESV)