Intentional Rest

Have you ever had a moment when you just needed rest?  Solitude?  Quiet?  

A few weeks ago, our church began a series for Lent titled Quiet: Hearing God Amidst the Noise.  I was excited.  Whitespace is something I have been trying to incorporate into my personal life, but also our family life since before our oldest daughter was born.  

This would be encouraging.

Or so I thought...

What followed in the next few weeks were feelings of extreme Overwhelm.  I wanted Quiet, but no matter how much I tried nothing seemed to help.  

Then about a week ago I had a realization...

I was starting to burn out...

Somewhere along the line in the first few months of this year I had begun to feel overwhelmed.  

I was being pulled so many different directions.  

None of them bad, but none of them were cohesive and moving forward together, rather they were all different directions and changed every week!

In 1 Kings 19, we see the story of Elijah... One of my favorite parts of this particular part of Elijah's journey comes in verse 12 where Elijah hears a whisper, and that whisper is God speaking to him.  Since first beginning to invest in Spiritual Whitespace, I have cherished this experience of Elijah's where it emphasizes that God was not in the chaos and loudness, but could only be heard when Elijah stopped and listened.

When our pastor started this series on Quiet, that was my focus.  I wanted the noise to stop so I could get to the quiet.  Then I went back and examined Elijah's story just a little more and noticed something that I had forgotten.  Before Elijah could even be present to hear the whisper, he had to rest.  In verses 3-6, we see that Elijah has a period where he rests, eats and repeats.  Without the rest, Elijah was incapable of hearing God.  

So I made some decisions...

I cut back on nearly everything that I could that wasn't absolutely necessary and if it was something that felt scattered and disorganized I removed myself as much as possible.

When that started I noticed that I stared napping more....

Nearly everyday found me searching for those moments when my body demanded rest.

I said no to good things so I could build my capacity to say yes to better things.

I started listening to more podcasts, reading and spending more time cuddling my girls. 

After about a week of this I am finally starting to feel more like myself.  

The better version of me.

One that is not overwhelmed and pulled too many directions.  

I still notice the need to move slowly, but I can tell that the feeling of burn-out is receding.  

As that happens, I find myself seeing the tiredness that surrounds me.  

The exhaustion as we push to make things happen without stopping to ask if those are even the things God still wants from us.  

We are in the season of Lent.  

I just had the realization that what I gave up during Lent is something I hope to maintain long after its 40 days are over.  

I have given up exhaustion and the "should's" for rest, quiet and the chance to hear God's voice more clearly.

What would that look like for you? 

Would you like to hear God's whisper?

What if for the next two weeks you gave up the crazy demands that drain you and took the time to find moments of rest?

What are ways you could start that today?