Rest is near and dear to the heart of God, yet glaringly absent from our lives.
We know how to run hard.
We don’t know how to rest well.
Bottom line – rest is not a reward.
You can’t earn it.
You don’t deserve it.
It’s not a sign of weakness or inability. Rest is a matter of obedience, stewardship and delight. It’s a priority (a call to sanity) that is too important to neglect any longer.
Why?
Rest equips us to the run the race in a power not our own and it’s time for God’s people to engage—guilt-free.
If this is your first time here, welcome! I encourage to check out the Where to Begin tab, especially the item called The Expedition. Time spent here is worth the investment. It will set the stage for our 12-week expedition. If time is short, here’s the nuts and bolts.
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Once a week (barring crisis that disrupts my best laid plans…) you will receive a short, but sweet tidbit to challenge your current notions of what rest is, what it isn’t and why it’s worth the effort.
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This blog launched in March 2013. If you are joining us at a later date – welcome! I would like encourage you to take the time to read the first 12 posts. They lay an important foundation. Read them, but go slow. Don’t do it in a single sit down. This message needs time to sink in deep. The first 12 posts can be found on the right hand side of the home page. Later posts will be categorized by topic so they are easy to locate.
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There is value in taking this journey with a traveling companion. Is there someone you can invite? Learning how to rest is a counter-cultural endeavor. We need all the support and encouragement we can get.
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There are additional tabs to explore. This site is designed to be a launching pad for what God wants to do in your life. Go slow. Explore one rhythm at a time, not all four at once. There is a lot packed into this site. There is no need to visit any of it, but it’s there for the perusing in the months ahead. The best way to introduce our weary souls to rhythm and restoration is one restful hour at a time. A guilt-free expedition awaits us.
Thank you for all your time, efforts, and prayers to share this teaching with us. Though I am currently breaking the Sleep rhythm in order to read some of this, I am challenging myself to reflect, receive revelation, be reformed and restored in the revolutions of my life. Thanks for leading the expedition and sharing your journey with me….and allowing me to share my journey with you. You are precious to me!
The lessons you are teaching are indeed painful to learn. It seems we don’t listen well until something happens that stops us and prevents us from the doing. It has taken me a long time to admit that rest is part of how I am created. In our fallen condition we don’t want to deal with our weaknesses and we push harder thinking the effort will overcome all. This is idolatry. If the answer to my weaknesses is found in me, Jesus wasted his time. I needed to repent of the sin of greater effort before I could accept the gift of rest. I think it will take the rest of my life to learn the depth of abiding in Christ.
Thanks for your mentoring us to learn, not just the how, but more the why.
Thanks, Brenda! Dawn and I are building these 12 weeks into our Summer “Rule” in order to design a more sane 2013-14 school year. For someone who works full-time and freelances 10-12 hours a week (me) and a full-time homeschooling mom of four (Dawn), your words will be challenging, yet a way forward. Looking forward to the journey!
Ah!
Exploring biblical rhythms of rest is a journey. So is re-ordering our lives around these rhythms. Partnership multiplies the blessings! I can’t wait to hear what God has in store.
Rest well!
Brenda