Weekend Words

 From Our Daily Bread...

Rest is a Gift from God

Tossing and turning in bed, I fretted over my list of weekly tasks.  Family, friends, and even people I barely knew depended on me.  For the fourth night in a row, I watched the clock change to three a.m. before I fell asleep.  The alarm I'd set for six a.m. shocked me into starting my day.  I snapped at my husband.  Barking orders at my son, I rushed him into the car.  I don't remember driving to his school.  But I'll never forget watching his teacher close the classroom door before I headed outside and collapsed from exhaustion onto the playground.

A friend drove me home and promised to care for my son until my husband returned from work.  My neighbor prayed over me and stayed close by until I woke up ... eight hours later.

God knows His children worry, fear, and sometimes try to do too much.  He also knows how desperately we need down time to rejuvenate physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

In Psalm 62, David says his "soul finds rest in God" (v.1).  For this wholistic revitalization, David needed to be silent and still as he leaned into God's proven trustworthiness as all-sufficient hope giver, deliverer, and protector (vv. 5-7).  Urging others to trust in God "at all times" by approaching Him with honest prayers, David demonstrates bold dependence on God and His power (vv. 8,12).

God didn't design us to be weighed down by worry or the need to meet everyone's needs.  He does, however, prove His dependability.  When we trust His constant presence and His power, we can worship Him by resting.  What a priceless gift from God!

- Xochitl Dixon

From Amish Peace...

Learning at God's Feet

"I'm asking God for one thing, only one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long.  I'll contemplate his beauty; I'll study at his feet." (Psalm 27:4 The Message)

According to the dictionary, to contemplate means to look at or view with continued attention, to meditate, or to ponder.  When did you last take time to contemplate something?

The Amish live a simple lifestyle, which allows them time to interact more with nature.  The slow pace of the buggy - without cell phone, talk radio, or CD player - allows time to view the world God created.  Working in a field, a barn, or a garden does the same.  When we take time to notice it and to ponder the goodness of God, who created it, we realize that the whole world is a display of God's beauty.

This reminds me of the story of two sisters in the Bible.  Martha was busy serving in the kitchen, focusing on caring for Jesus and his disciples.  Martha's sister, Mary, sat at Jesus' feet, listening to His words and contemplating Him.  Martha let Jesus know she wasn't thrilled about the fact that she was left with all the work.  Most of us would have been right there with Martha.  But instead of telling Mary to speed up, Jesus told Martha to slow down: "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'" (Luke 10:41-42).

Do you get worried and upset over details?  Do they keep replaying in your mind?  Take time to ponder the world around you, to remember that your loving Creator has everything in His hands, and that sitting at Jesus' feet is the most important thing we can do.

Dear heavenly Father, the more I contemplate Your goodness, the more my whole world takes on shades of hope and light.  Forgive me for steaming ahead without You.  I'm here now, Lord, at Your feet.  Help me to see Your beauty.