Rest Area Ahead - Please Pull Over

With a smart phone, which most people have now, you can do just about everything. You can order a meal, buy an outfit, listen to music, keep in contact with friends, take pictures, work from home, type a letter, talk to friends and family, read the Bible and check the news and weather. Pretty amazing. Amazing more, you can walk around and never even talk face to face with another person and get all this done!  I’m not making fun of smart phones, I have one and so does my husband. We find them to be very convenient. With my car the phone connects to a speaker and I have hands free use while driving.

Just about everything in our lives is instant. But there’s a cost to it all. We now pay more for our phones than we paid for our entire month’s bills when we were first married.  We now struggle when we’re in a “dead zone” for fear someone might try to reach us or we might need to reach out to someone else or check the weather, etc.

Although smart phones have given us instant access to so much information and so many people, we haven’t really found more time. Just like other time savers, it has caused us to become even busier. Our lives are hectic, harried and fast paced. Often we find that the very things that were meant to help us have actually hindered us. We get frustrated when the microwave goes for 30 seconds!

God speaks to my heart: It is in quietness and time alone that you will find your most needed connection and that is with Me. I AM the answer to all your problems, but you must take time to spend it with Me. I know your situation, I know your time constraints and I know your heart. If you will stop and carve out time in My presence I will slow your racing heart, calm your racing mind and give you peace – real peace. As you spend time with Me you will find real answers that you have been anxiously searching for and you will be able to relax and rest. The more you take time to spend with Me, the more you will hear from Me. I will help you, I will guide you, I will speak to your heart about every other thing that is going on in your life. In My presence you will find out how to make it all work, put it all together and have time to do what you have to do. And My presence causes you to have more time because I redeem and bless time spent with Me.

Oh beloved, maybe it’s time to pull over. Take a rest stop from the frantic pace of life. Enjoy time with God. Although everything you do is important to your life, it is also very important that you slow down and rest - Rest in His presence - Rest in His grace - Rest in His power. God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which He must work. His life saving plans are found in His Word and they will sustain you wherever you must go, whatever you must do.

God loves you and He’s for you and that’s what gives you rest and peace for your busy life.   

Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] AMP

Philippians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension , will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. NAS

Isaiah 30:15 This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength…

Matthew 6:33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

In His Presence is Your Peace!

Decorating cakes is one of my favorite things to do, especially for my grandkids. Although I’m not really an artist, I do get artistic pleasure from creating a “masterpiece” of icing and cake mix. I admit sometimes I am “under the gun” as to time for getting this done.

Getting ready for Stella’s birthday party was an under the gun time in my life. Danny’s aunt was sick and we were preparing for a secular event to work. We were juggling our schedule, thinking ahead and hoping everything would land together in a good way.

Turns out of course that our plans don’t always go so smoothly. I baked the cake one night and finished decorating it the afternoon before Stella’s party, the same afternoon we left for West Texas and a family funeral. I was definitely under the gun!

The finishing touch on Peppa Pig (the cake) were her eyes. Danny got off work and ran by the store to pick up the tubed black icing.  They were out! I knew I had seen some candy eyes so I asked him to just pick a package of those up. They’d have to do.  I was also playing with grandkids, sweeping the kitchen floor (long overdue) and packing our clothes.  Are you starting to get the feeling that I was stressed?

As Danny ran in, handing me the eyes, I opened them and saw that they weren’t the candy eyes but rather plastic ones! I knew it was too late to do anything about it, so I told Stella’s mom to make sure nobody ate them! LOL   The jitter of juggling everything was starting to show and I could NOT get those plastic eyes in the right place on Peppa’s face! Danny got the tweezers for me and picked up Stella, who was now crying and wanting “cake, cake, cake”.  One little boy was climbing on the bar to look at the cake, another little boy had fever and was sitting in the recliner, one daughter was watching and Danny and Stella were right next to me.  Now as I look back at it all, I am laughing, but right then it was anything but funny.

I exclaimed to Danny, holding the crying granddaughter, “please take her somewhere else for a moment! I can’t get these eyes on the cake!” I had made everything on that cake just right, but those little eyes were going to be my undoing. I was worn slap out! I had had enough noise and help and attention and company.  I just needed a quiet moment to finish the embellishment. I just needed a little silence to concentrate. It wasn’t about the clatter – no one was doing anything wrong. I just needed a moment. A moment to block out the noise and concentrate so I could finish things up right.

Ever feel like that? Ever wonder how you started out a simple faith seeker and ended up a juggler in life’s circus? Is the noise of even the fun things becoming deafening to you as you try to concentrate on both your physical life and your spiritual life? Do you ever wonder if you’ll get things done right and make everyone happy and get to enjoy life again? Do you long for just a moment of quiet so you can think about what you’re doing and get it right?  

Oh beloved, maybe it’s time to get away with Jesus! God knows how stressful your life can be. He knows the demands of your work, your home, your family and your faith. He knows that you may wear 10 different hats and juggle 10 different tasks. He also knows the solution for stress is to let Him bless! Bless you with time alone with Him. Bless you with spiritual delights in your quiet time. Bless you with His help to get everything done.  Bless you with His joy and peace. Bless you with the knowledge that - while it’s impossible to have it all, make everyone happy and hold it all up by yourself – He will hold it all up for you as you let Him be there for you! Slip away into His loving arms. Rest in His loving Word. At the Name of Jesus, and in His presence, weariness must flee, worry must vanish and peace will reign.

He loves you, precious child, and He’s for you, beloved believer. And that’s all that really matters!

Luke 10:41 But the Lord said to her, "My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details!

I Chronicles 16:27 Honor and majesty are [found] in His presence; strength and joy are [found] in His sanctuary. (Amplified)

Psalm 89:15 Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in the light of your presence, Lord.

First Things First

Mary and Martha are biblical sisters that have been talked about a lot. They’ve been the object of Bible studies, discussions, arguments and more. They were probably the talk of the town back in their day.

Sisters don’t always get along. Obviously Mary and Martha didn’t. Their personalities were very different.  I remember my own sister, who was 23 years older than me. We saw life very differently, argued about things and agreed to disagree at times. As we got older we began to see more of our likenesses than our differences. We didn’t know as we grew closer that we wouldn’t have much more time together, but God in his mercy doesn’t let us know everything all at once.

Sisters do things differently.  It’s apparent that Mary and Martha were the same.

Martha was intent on figuring out how she might feed the Lord; Mary intent how she might be fed by the Lord.

Both things were needful. They had a special guest in their home and Martha wanted her meal to match the Visitor. I get that. Often when we have company I stress and fuss about the food and the house. I get to thinking I need a week off to clean, shoot – even remodel – the house! I want to make something special, which may translate to “hard to make”.  Finally by the time it’s all over, I have relaxed and the guests feel at home and we have a good time.

Mary was so excited to see Jesus that she just couldn’t take her eyes off of Him. She was so busy enjoying the fellowship she forgot all about the food.  She was feasting on the Manna present in human form right there in her living room. 

Often we get busy being busy. All our busy-ness has its place. We just have to do dishes, wash laundry, vacuum floors, make the bed, cook, buy things, pay bills, etc. All of us either work outside the home or in the home. Our yards have to get mowed occasionally, the oil has to be changed in the vehicles, the tires need replacing and kids need help. Husbands and wives need time for themselves and families need time for fun.

If we’re not careful we’ll find ourselves overwhelmed with the busy-ness of life and let the spiritual side of our lives wane. It’s the unseen part of our lives in many ways so it’s the easiest to let go. If you don’t mow your yard folks are going to know right away. If you don’t spend time with the Lord, people don’t always know right away.

Oh beloved, have you been worrying about the stuff of life? Have you slipped into busy and not realized that it’s taking the place of your needful things? Maybe you’re in church, but you have forgotten that you’re in Christ. While it’s easy to do, there is One Who wants to call you into sweet fellowship! God has a wonderful plan for your life and it is full of time for both the physical demands of life and the spiritual needs as well. In fact, when your spirit life is being filled, you will find that the other things just fall into place. Stop and take a moment to sit at the feet of Jesus, for that is where  your peace, your joy, your faith reside. Without your special time together, you’ll be running through the motions on empty, but filled with His love and care, you will find your life tuned up and running a lot smoother! He loves you and He’s for you! Ask Him and He will give you more Mary time in this Martha world.

Luke 10:40-42 But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”  But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Psalm 5:3 Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.

Matthew 6:33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.