Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Calling

I have been studying the book "Captivating", by John and Stasi Eldredge, with a delightful group of women who I have come to love and enjoy immensely. We're finishing the book today and as I reread the chapter last night preparing for this mornings meeting I was struck by the thought that God really does have a mission for me. He has called me to a great work, and whether that great work is something that seems small and insignificant to me and the world around me, or a work that is big and important in the eyes of our society, if He has called me to it, then it is a mighty work.

So many times I look at my life and my daily tasks and I think "Is this it? Is this really all I have to offer?" and the truth is that, Yes, this is all I have to offer because it is me and it is where God has asked me to be. If I am following Him, and I give my all no matter what I am doing, then I am enough. I do not need to offer more than I have been asked. Sometimes He calls us to rest and worship, sometimes He calls us to work all hours of the day but never does He leave us alone to do the work. When we follow His leading, His calling, He is there, side by side with us, to do His part in the work so nothing is lost or left undone.

Yesterday I wrote about being tired. I have often had a problem with allowing myself to rest. I hear the tapes going off in my head saying "you don't deserve to rest, you haven't finished everything yet" or "no one else will take care of it (you), you must get this done". Reality is that when I am that tired, I don't get anything done. I walk around, looking busy, but really accomplishing nothing and then I just feel worse about myself. I heard a sermon once about rest, and about how God calls us to work from rest, not rest from work. It makes total sense. The first thing God had Adam and Eve do was to take a day off. They were created on the 6th day and rested on the 7th and then told to continue that pattern. To rest and worship on the 7th day and to work from the 1st through 6th days. Rest, then work. It makes total sense. To continue that thought, the Bible says that the "evening and the morning were the first day"so we are to sleep first, and work second. (Genesis 1-4)

If I stop when God is calling me to rest, even if the dishes are undone, the living room is a mess, and company is coming, He will give me strength to either trust my friends to be non-judgmental, to ask for help or to give me the rest I need to do the work I need to do.

So, today I am going to consider that God is calling me to rest at this time of my life. To give me time to sort through all that has happened in the last 3 years. Maybe when I am rested I can tackle all those things that I feel passionate about. I am choosing to rest when God calls me to rest and to work when He calls me to work. I wonder, how will this change how I view life? How I feel and how much I get accomplished? How would it change life for you if you were to choose to take care of yourself and rest before you work?

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