Good day Kingdom Women!
The above photograph was taken by my husband on Monday. We had gone up to Las Cuevas with his uncle and family for his uncle's birthday and had such a great time. Las Cuevas is truly beautiful...especially at sunset. I think what I had enjoyed most about our little outing on Monday was that it was the first time in a very long time that I had gotten to spend some quality time with my husband...and though others were there also, I was just grateful for the little moments in between that we had the opportunity to share with each other. Life has been so very hectic lately. It's been so hectic that I did not even get the opportunity to blog! And that's what I wanted to write about today.
I read somewhere once that the word BUSY should stand for Being Under Satan's Yolk.
How appropriate! Any one who has a very busy schedule will be able to testify that you feel tired very often, and your body begins shutting down on you, and before you know it, you are forced to rest because you're ill. A hectic lifestyle means that not only do our bodies suffer from lack of rest or from fatigue, it also means that our relationships suffer! I can identify with all of the above. Recently I have found that I've been getting ill quite often (one of the reasons for my not being able to blog). I would stand up every Sunday and thank God for healing me from one sickness or the other, only to have a different illness the next week. A lot of times we would like to blame the devil and say that he's attacking us, when our illnesses and fatigue are really from us taking his bait and not resting. And that's exactly what our enemy desires. He wants us to be too tired to pray, too sick to assemble together, and so pre-occupied that we are unable to build meaningful relationships. Though I can tell you...the one relationship that suffers the most in the life of a busy individual, is the relationship between that person and her Lord.
In Luke 10, an account is given about the two very different responses of two women toward the arrival of Jesus to their home:
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42 ESV)
Martha loved Jesus. I know that because she was the one who had asked Him over to her place. I think it is safe to say that not only did she invite Jesus, but his disciples and other followers were most likely in attendance. I say this because of the words "...much serving."...and why else would she be asking for Mary's help right? Not only that, but Jesus was teaching...and whenever He taught, a crowd followed. Important to note though, is that Martha was busy doing MINISTRY. Serving others is a form of ministry, everyone knows that! Do you know that you can be genuine in your attempts but still miss the mark? We can be so busy trying to do things for God without realising that we are not even doing those things along with Him anymore. Although Martha loved Jesus, she did not know how to slow down and just spend time with Him. How many of us are like that? I too find myself lost away doing one project or another...to whom much is given, much is required right? I feel like "a fish out of water" if I don't have a project to work on. But all of this busyness has taken away from quality time with the One I love...or maybe I should say the ones I love.
Jesus' response to Martha is one we can all learn from. With reference to the fact that Mary was attentively listening to what He was teaching, he told Martha, in other words, that she was busying herself doing all sorts of things, but that Mary has chosen to do the most important thing by spending time with Him, learning from Him, and He was not going to ruin that for her by making her go help Martha serve! But if serving is ministry, then Jesus should have asked Mary to help her sister shouldn't He have? No. This just goes to show that spending time with God is THE single most important thing in a Christian's life. If we do not spend time in His presence, we cannot effectively minister to anyone. All of our busyness would be in vain!! All our preaching and teaching and handing out of tracts may amount to no more souls being saved.
In Genesis 2:2-3, we see that God rested! If God rested, why then do we humans feel like we don't need to? Of course, nowhere was it said that God was tired. I think he rested as an example to us, that we need to rest. Tired Christians will soon become ineffective! I have experienced burn out in ministry in the past. My husband and I (before we were married) had spent so much time doing different forms of ministry. We were literally in church services every single day of the week! We were in prayer meetings and outreach ministries on evenings, we were leading drama group and doing graphics and printing and cutting fliers...anything that we could have done, we were doing it, preaching singing...all of this on top of our daily jobs until we simply burnt out. I found myself getting ill, until finally depression struck. I was empty and in desperate need of refueling. But since I was too tired to refuel by having personal one on one time with my Savior, I was of null effect and had to let go of some of my responsibilities. Sometimes we can find ourselves biting off so much more than we can chew. God does not want us to do everything and save the world on our strength. He wants us to simply do what He has called us to do, in the time that He has called us to do it, and in the mean time, we can rest in Him and grow in Him and recharge those batteries of ours.
The point of saying all of that is to simply say this: "Please learn how to slow down and rest a while". The world will not cease to go on if you took a break and did something for yourself, like go on a small vacation (whether it be in another country or in your back yard!) Tired people are ineffective people because they lack the ability to think clearly, or become forgetful. You may find yourself doing small yet strange things, like putting your cell phone in the fridge or something...or you may find yourself getting overly forgetful or even gaining weight...if this is you, please slow down and rest. Rest can do so much for your body and mind; before you know it, you will regain clarity and can effectively communicate with God; and you will find that your effectiveness in ministry and everyday life will significantly improve. Not to mention the aesthetic benefits of rest! When your stress levels are down, your looks improve. God did not create mechanical robots, He wants you to rest:
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30 (KJV)
I have made many attempts to write this article prior to today. After a much needed rest on Monday and sleeping til noon yesterday, I have found that clarity of thought came back to me and I was able to deliver this article to you. So take my advice, and rest in Him!
Jesus' response to Martha is one we can all learn from. With reference to the fact that Mary was attentively listening to what He was teaching, he told Martha, in other words, that she was busying herself doing all sorts of things, but that Mary has chosen to do the most important thing by spending time with Him, learning from Him, and He was not going to ruin that for her by making her go help Martha serve! But if serving is ministry, then Jesus should have asked Mary to help her sister shouldn't He have? No. This just goes to show that spending time with God is THE single most important thing in a Christian's life. If we do not spend time in His presence, we cannot effectively minister to anyone. All of our busyness would be in vain!! All our preaching and teaching and handing out of tracts may amount to no more souls being saved.
In Genesis 2:2-3, we see that God rested! If God rested, why then do we humans feel like we don't need to? Of course, nowhere was it said that God was tired. I think he rested as an example to us, that we need to rest. Tired Christians will soon become ineffective! I have experienced burn out in ministry in the past. My husband and I (before we were married) had spent so much time doing different forms of ministry. We were literally in church services every single day of the week! We were in prayer meetings and outreach ministries on evenings, we were leading drama group and doing graphics and printing and cutting fliers...anything that we could have done, we were doing it, preaching singing...all of this on top of our daily jobs until we simply burnt out. I found myself getting ill, until finally depression struck. I was empty and in desperate need of refueling. But since I was too tired to refuel by having personal one on one time with my Savior, I was of null effect and had to let go of some of my responsibilities. Sometimes we can find ourselves biting off so much more than we can chew. God does not want us to do everything and save the world on our strength. He wants us to simply do what He has called us to do, in the time that He has called us to do it, and in the mean time, we can rest in Him and grow in Him and recharge those batteries of ours.
The point of saying all of that is to simply say this: "Please learn how to slow down and rest a while". The world will not cease to go on if you took a break and did something for yourself, like go on a small vacation (whether it be in another country or in your back yard!) Tired people are ineffective people because they lack the ability to think clearly, or become forgetful. You may find yourself doing small yet strange things, like putting your cell phone in the fridge or something...or you may find yourself getting overly forgetful or even gaining weight...if this is you, please slow down and rest. Rest can do so much for your body and mind; before you know it, you will regain clarity and can effectively communicate with God; and you will find that your effectiveness in ministry and everyday life will significantly improve. Not to mention the aesthetic benefits of rest! When your stress levels are down, your looks improve. God did not create mechanical robots, He wants you to rest:
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30 (KJV)
I have made many attempts to write this article prior to today. After a much needed rest on Monday and sleeping til noon yesterday, I have found that clarity of thought came back to me and I was able to deliver this article to you. So take my advice, and rest in Him!
As usual, I leave you with a song and do pray that it blesses your heart as you find rest in Him.
Be blessed
Krystal
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