I think we could all agree that rest is something we could use more of. Our lives are so packed with activities we often feel overwhelmed. There are simply not enough hours in a day. We need a break! Time to relax and get away from the rush of everyday life. Time to enjoy family and the comforts of our home. I read recently the average living space in an American home is 2647 square feet. We live by the saying "go big or go home". Yet it seems home is often the last place we want to be. We are tired from a full schedule and demanding responsibilities, yet here we are sitting in our homes longing to be back in the middle of the chaos we call life.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.
Psalm 127
I have a confession to make. I've enjoyed the quarantine life. Now I could do without the pandemic. But I have enjoyed the simplicity of our current limitations. I've enjoyed the days spent with my wife and daughter and the refreshing rest from a less rigid schedule. I've enjoyed communicating with the church in a different way, finding unique opportunities to reach out and connect. I've enjoyed preparing and preaching using a different platform than usual. I can honestly say this has been refreshing. Let me repeat I could do without the real threat of sickness! And to say it hasn't been challenging wouldn't be correct. It's been work to try to find ways to reach out and minister to the church. To write instead of teach. To preach to a camera instead of face to face. Let's face it being in front of a camera is not my cup of tea. To say it's been challenging is actually an understatement. But I have found a great joy in the rest that the Lord has given us through this. How about you? Are you maximizing the opportunity to refresh? Are you using the time to read, study, and worship the Lord in a personal intimate way? Or are you like so many others spending your days longing for what once wore you down.
Hopefully you are using this time to find much needed rest. I am worried that when life becomes somewhat normal, many of us will rush straight back into the things that cause stress, and anxiety in our lives. Even as we eventually reunite in worship together there can be a warning. I worry we may rush right back to the patterns of church without a renewed spirit and refreshed outlook. That we will take a business as usual approach and not look at it as a new opportunity. If this is the case we may have wasted what the Lord intended as a time for a much needed break!
In Christ
Pastor Wes
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