“My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Exodus 33:14 NIV
From the very first chapter of Genesis, God teaches us to take rest. He rested on the seventh day of creation and declared it good. Later, as the Israelites entered the Promised Land, God ordered the people to give the soil a rest every seven years.
When we short ourselves on rest, illness can result. That’s our body’s way of saying “Slow down! I can’t keep up! If you won’t listen to me, then I’m going to force you to.”
God believes in rest! But most of us live lives that are packed to the brim with activities and obligations. We’re overwhelmed. With such a fragile balance, unexpected occurrences, like a dead car battery, can wreck us emotionally, spiritually, and physically.
That’s not the lifestyle God wants us to have. “He grants sleep to those he loves,” wrote the psalmist (Psalm 127:2 NIV). God wants us to create margin for the unexpected: a neighbor in need, a grandparent who requires extra attention, a friend who needs encouragement, our own kids as they grow and mature.
Life is busy. But in God’s presence we find rest.
Help me, Father, to listen to Your instruction and heed Your words so I can create true margin in my life.
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Today’s reading was adapted from Daily Wisdom for Women: 2013 Devotional Collection with permission from Barbour Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reading was written by Suzanne Woods Fisher.