“In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”…(Isaiah 30:15)
I love taking my sweet girl to an indoor playroom in the city we live in. It’s full of so many fun things to do for children her age and she just has the time of her life while she’s there. She’ll talk about “Senses” during the day or when we get into the car. She just loves it.
I used to get a bit discouraged when my daughter would go to Senses and not run around, play on the slide or physically burn off all that crazy energy she has inside of her. Some days she’ll sit and play with the keys for a very long time trying to figure them out or other small locks and levers.
One Saturday, my husband, noticing me getting a little frustrated over her love for the keys said to me, “Heather, why do you think she needs to be on the go so much?” I explained to him that I wanted her to burn off all her energy so she’d sleep well for her nap. He said, “She is burning energy now, she’s working hard inside that little brain of hers to figure out how to use things.”
The Spirit spoke something into me in that moment. It was something like, “Heather, you need to learn to sit quietly too.”
You see, sitting still is not something I enjoy doing. In fact, exercise, at times, has sight a tight grip on me that I have often felt trapped by it. But friend, that’s what I need to always be moving, always be in control does. It makes you believe that if you slow down, what you fear might happen. We all have things we tell ourselves, little prisons we put ourselves in out of fear. Thinking that if we really let go and trust God, He might not come through.
Truth be told, there are days when I know that I should rest, but I don’t and I pay for it later. That’s just what happens when we don’t teach our hearts to sit quietly before the Lord. We will always pay for it later when we choose activity over rest.
That’s why God instituted the Sabbath. You see, Sabbath releases us from being in control. It teaches us that we don’t need to keep working, we simply need God. So friend, I’m not sure where you feel anxious or worried today. I’m not sure where you have a hard time resting, but would you be willing to sit with me as I’m learning it’s value for my life?
Father, you are our rest. Thank you for Jesus. He is the best. May my heart be satisfied in Him always, in Jesus name, Amen.
Heather Quiroz 