An Unrestful Rest: I Cant Seem To Get Enough Sleep
Been feeling a little worn out and overwhelmed these past few days and really needed to take a step back and take inventory of my time and energy. Why was I feeling so run down all of a sudden? My work load had not changed, my daily challenges were the same and the last time I checked I still had the same number of crazy, overly active, willful children. I was eating right and working out but I still struggled to get through the day. Then I realized that I had not been spending quality time with the Lord. Yes, I prayed. Yes, I read the scriptures but was I all there when I did it? Was my heart open? Did I allow the real me to show up to our meeting? Or was it the Sarabeth that I let the world see, talking to the Lord? There is a difference. I find that when I don't allow the Lord into the most vulnerable, hidden and vital parts of my heart and mind, I fail to receive the necessary nutrients and rest I need to make it through the day, week or my life successfully. Resulting in a life of survival and not abundance.
My spirit was running on empty. I wanted to pour into others but I had nothing left to pour. My spiritual gas tank was running low and barley getting me through the week. It's important to feed on God's word on a regular, consistent basis. It's what gives us life, energy and rest.
Life. Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches: he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). It's important to stay connected to him, to feed off of him, to be filled with him always. Dedicating a certain part of your day to just be with God is the best investment you can ever make in yourself. An intimate relationship with Christ will bring dead bones to life and breathe life into a rotting corpse. Don't be fooled. Life is more than just avoiding death. The life Christ died for us to have begets more life and fruit that only he can produce in you.
Energy. Pour out your heart. When I pour out, he pours in. Sometimes we are so full of worries, wants, fears and sin that there's no room left within us to even think straight, so all we can do is react. React to the noise, react to the pain, react to the confusion around us. We need to be able to empty ourselves of all these toxins through daily confession to make room for what God needs to pour into our hearts. See it as your own personal therapy session and tell him everything. Especially the things that hurt the most. It's a time to clear some mental space. To filter out the trash fed to us by the world, our broken hearts and the enemy. Carrying all that stuff is hard work and lets face it, it is hard to run a race with two hands full of "baggage". Your carrying a load you were never meant to carry and it's draining you of power, life and energy. Let it go. Better yet let Him take it off your hands for you. I promise He will never return it. Just make sure you don't go back to pick it up.
Rest. I remember when my first born had arrived. He was so full of life and energy. He was beautiful and perfect in every way, except one. His desire for sleep. That boy did not want to sleep. He wanted to party from sun up to sun up. Yes, you read correctly. And as much as he enjoyed the never ending night club, we did not. We were always tired and tried to get rest whenever we could which involved eliminating things from our daily schedule like socializing, date night and for me regular showers. Our regular "quiet time" with the Lord also suffered.
We thought that if we could just get some more sleep we would have the energy and motivation to pray and read the Bible like we used to. But all the resting never resulted in any rest or rejuvenation. Did we sleep, yes. Did we vegg out on the coach, yes. But we were still exhausted. And that's because true rest can an only come from the Lord. He says, "Come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest". He didn't say lock yourself inside your house and confine yourselves to your beds. No, he said, "Come to me...". So that's just what we did. With bags under our eyes and twitching eyebrows we threw ourselves at the feet of our God and spent quality time with him. And surprise, surprise over time we felt better, stronger and more energized. Did we get more sleep, no, but through spending intimate, quality time withe the Lord we got what our bodies and souls needed, true rest.
So the next time you start to feel drained and worn out instead of just trying to get more sleep, check to see if you've been spending enough time with the one who can provide true rest. He is the true source of all we need.
Sarabeth
Rest. I remember when my first born had arrived. He was so full of life and energy. He was beautiful and perfect in every way, except one. His desire for sleep. That boy did not want to sleep. He wanted to party from sun up to sun up. Yes, you read correctly. And as much as he enjoyed the never ending night club, we did not. We were always tired and tried to get rest whenever we could which involved eliminating things from our daily schedule like socializing, date night and for me regular showers. Our regular "quiet time" with the Lord also suffered.
We thought that if we could just get some more sleep we would have the energy and motivation to pray and read the Bible like we used to. But all the resting never resulted in any rest or rejuvenation. Did we sleep, yes. Did we vegg out on the coach, yes. But we were still exhausted. And that's because true rest can an only come from the Lord. He says, "Come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest". He didn't say lock yourself inside your house and confine yourselves to your beds. No, he said, "Come to me...". So that's just what we did. With bags under our eyes and twitching eyebrows we threw ourselves at the feet of our God and spent quality time with him. And surprise, surprise over time we felt better, stronger and more energized. Did we get more sleep, no, but through spending intimate, quality time withe the Lord we got what our bodies and souls needed, true rest.
So the next time you start to feel drained and worn out instead of just trying to get more sleep, check to see if you've been spending enough time with the one who can provide true rest. He is the true source of all we need.
Sarabeth
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