And I will Give you Rest

I remember one particular day being a little extra stressed, I was driving and passed a church sign that said part of the verse Mathew 11:28 “come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest”.  I remember the long breath of relief that I took after reading that.  I remember the shame I felt after realizing I hadn’t taken my burdens and stresses to Him, and how I had been trying and failing to handle it all on my own. 

From then on I prayed repeatedly for rest, for a slow down of some sort.  I prayed for calm and content, I prayed for slow days and space to just be.  I saw no end to my “yes man” habits and taking on way too much all at once.  Every time I asked for a slow down I could feel God side eyeing me thinking  “no Annalisa not yet chill out” God says “yes”, “no”, or “not yet”.  This was a “not yet” situation, because here I am, in the coffee shop writing, I worked out this morning and I am going to go home and clean the house.  Now my “have to’s”  have become “I get to’s”.  My schedule is mine to create and we are blessed enough to be in a situation where I can remove stress and mentally unhealthy tasks to create a more productive positive life.

Now when I feel stress or anxiety creeping up saying “you have too much to do, you can’t get it all done especially not well, you won’t do it right or you won’t do enough”.  I remember that every moment God makes is with His divine intention.  As much as our modern society wants us to feel that we have to control our lives, and it is our actions and wishes that will manifest what we want, we cannot be so ignorant to believe that anything we do is not covered in sinful selfish motivation.  

I do not find my rest in getting to sleep in with nothing on the schedule, that is not what I prayed for.  When I experience unrest, stress, or worry, I remind myself that if my confidence was in myself, I would be correct to feel that way.  However if I have true confidence in His plan and that every breath I take is a blessing, then no matter how many things are going on at once, or how anxiety ridden I may feel, I will always have rest in Him.  
Make a joyful noise.
and rest.

~Annalisa