rest

overwhelmed, equipped, surrender, power, Oh Lord Help Us, Christian, ministry

Equipped: Surrendering Our Lives for God’s Power

Devotionals, Stay SaneJune 20, 2018September 8, 2019

When we belong to God, we are equipped with His Power for every season of life, every instance, every circumstance. Surrendering our lives to this truth is essential in our walk with the Lord.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17, NIV

Equipped. This word has been burning my ears for about a month now. It is a word I spoke over a stranger at a women’s conference, and a word that God continues to sprinkle around for me to pay attention to. If we know anything about God, it’s that He is constant, consistent, and relentless. Sometimes, He allows us to break so we can truly understand His whispers to our souls.

That’s what it took for me. A complete break down…

Surrendering…

Motherhood

If you could see my hair right now, you would believe I am currently the poster woman and the face of all tired moms in the world. I need a shower. Maybe some dry shampoo. Did I wear deodorant today?

Don’t judge me.

I would love to say I handle all that motherhood throws at me from a posture of grace, but I can’t and I won’t. I was having a particularly awful day, full of tantrums and tears. Overwhelmed with confusion, procrastination, and not being able to find the right shoes. That doesn’t even include what the kids were doing.

Then it happened; I said it. Through the sobbing and the blubbering… “I don’t want to be around any of you. I don’t enjoy being a mom right now. I hate this!”

Now before judging me again, I did not say this to my kids. My poor husband had to wade through the mess, and with his approval, I gave myself a Mommy-time-out.

Marriage

I forgot to mention that in the same breath I told my husband I didn’t enjoy being a mom, I also said I didn’t enjoy being a wife. Y’all, I am so thankful Casey is equipped to handle me at my worst. He could filter through the words and truly hear what I was saying.

I needed to take a step away. To remember the pride I had once felt in being his help mate. He knew that God needed to speak to me and I needed to hear Him. I couldn’t do that with all the distractions. It was obvious I needed a quiet place.

Ministry

I also took a ministry-time-out. It was only for two days, but it really helped me evaluate the time and energy I was pouring into tasks. To see the God-ordained missions I had abandoned while doing “Kingdom missions.”

You see, when I feel like I’m not doing a great job at something, I distract myself with something different. I do things I know I’m good at, instead of relying on God’s power to fill in my gaps. I was feeling ill equipped for motherhood and wifehood, so I poured myself into tasks and masking them as advancements for the Kingdom.

Equipped with Power…

I was doing all of these things on my own power, with my own tool box. I ran out of mommy-juice, wife-fuel, and I was starting to run out of ministry energy. All because I forgot, it’s not by my power but the power of God in me.

…for I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power.

Philippians 4:13, TLB

It doesn’t matter what special areas are in your life. Maybe you aren’t a mother or a wife. Your life is specifically you. Hear me, you are equipped for this time and the times to come because of the power of Christ in you.

You are equipped for this time and the times to come because of the power of Christ in you. Click To Tweet

Y’all, I believe that God is bringing “equipped” to my attention, because He wants me to rest. Stop running in circles, trying to do it all in my own power. Rest in the truth that whatever is right now or comes along the way, I am already equipped because HE is equipped.

Laura Vinck

training, battle, faithful, Oh Lord Help Us, ministry, Christian, women

Training: Being Equipped for Battle Through Daily Faithfulness

Devotionals, Stay SaneMay 8, 2018September 8, 2019

We cannot wait for the big battles of life to learn to fight. We need daily training. God will prepare us for battle in the day to day faithful small acts of doing life.

Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.”

1 Samuel 17:38, ESV

David is a character in scripture that is deeply familiar to most. Who hasn’t heard of the big giant Goliath and the small shepherd boy David rounding off in the field between the Philistines and the Israelites? Goliath came out and stood on the battle field day after day shouting out at the Israelites to send someone to fight against him. “Choose a man and have him come down to me,” he would bellow. And the whole camp was “dismayed and terrified.” Until David came. He wasn’t really there to fight. In fact, he was on an errand. His father needed him to take supplies to his brothers and find out news. David was the youngest and spent his day tending sheep.

He shows up and hears Goliath ranting at the camp and he is not dismayed. He is insulted. But, have you ever noticed who David is defending? “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” David is concerned for the glory of his God. He hears Goliath and his first thoughts are not for his safety, his comfort, or his family. He is thinking about his God. When Saul dismisses David as just a boy, David reminds him of what he has been doing. “Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them…The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine.“

And David does. He takes a stone and he slings one straight into Goliath’s forehead. He kills him and cuts his head off. And this is the best part: This is exactly what David has been doing for years tending the sheep; slinging stones and stopping enemies. Saul originally tries to get David to wear a suit of armor. He thinks he is a boy and needs defenses like the rest of the camp. But, the armor wasn’t going to be effective. It was too big and David could barely move.

Stones and slings were what he was familiar with. He had trained with those stones, using them many times before. He had struck down other adversaries. Goliath wasn’t his first kill. And to be honest, he had a lot more death to come in his future. But, here in this moment facing what was his first “real” battle, David used what he knew and what he had been practicing. He didn’t wait to learn to sling a stone in the midst of battle.

Training

Have you considered what made David ready for battle? It was only what he had been already doing. He had been tending sheep and killing enemies. He had been in training all that time. Fighting little enemies in preparation for the bigger ones.

My battles are going to look a lot different than David’s. But, I cannot wait for the big battles to come to learn to fight. While my battles may look different than David’s, they will be in essence, the same. They will require I engage the enemy. They will be for the honor and glory of my King. And they will require that I draw on the resources that are already stored in my spiritual well. God is faithfully equipping me for battle and I am a part of that equipping.

God is faithfully equipping me for battle... Click To Tweet

I am in His word (the sword) and I am meeting with Him, learning to listen to His quiet voice. I am doing my life with God in the middle of it when there are no battles raging; when the water is calm or calmer. I can look at the days ahead and know that God is preparing me. He is not expecting me to get my act together. In fact, He is getting my act together. He is and will prepare me for the battle in the day to day faithful small acts of doing my life. He has begun a good work in me and He will be faithful to complete it. I can rest in that and I can rest in Him.

ITZIAR LORENZO

rest, stillness, meditation, Oh Lord Help Us, women, ministry, encouragement

Stillness: Creating Oneness with God in Quiet Meditation

Devotionals, Stay SaneApril 3, 2018September 8, 2019

Stillness can be a daily habit to insure our whole being aligns with God. Creating oneness with God in our busy lives, becomes easier during quiet meditation.

Life is a whirlwind of happenings, appointments, activities, stuff. The world yanks us in many different directions and the multiplication of all of life’s intricacies, create huge “energy stealers”. In busyness, it can be incredibly difficult to focus in on God. At the extreme, it paralyzes our ability to even experience God. So, how can we overcome these pulls?

I recently wrote about rest and how rejuvenating our souls in the Lord gives us true energy. But, what should we do with that energy. Yes, the normal daily things come to mind… cleaning up messes would be a great use of it. However, I want to suggest one more step before we head off into our worlds of schedules and tasks… stillness.

Confused Stillness

I’ve touched a bit in previous posts that I tend to be more reserved and introverted. For a long time, I thought stillness and quietness were one in the same. That may be true in the worldly realm, but spiritually, they are quite different. I am quiet and also distracted. Yes, I can pray while I do the dishes, or contemplate God while folding laundry, but that is not stillness. That’s multitasking.

Stillness can also be confused with rest. Stillness uses energy. Whereas, resting causes you to gain energy. When you seek rest in the Almighty, you are trusting Him to fill you with supernatural energy. Oppositely, stillness uses that energy to zoom in on God within us, to provide peace, clarity, and joy.

What Is Stillness?

Not to get all Hippie-Dippie on you, but it’s a tranquil activity which produces serenity and calmness within. Stillness is a complete focus on God inside of us. Our bodies, minds, hearts being completely still before the Lord. Stillness insures we are hearing God’s voice, feeling His presence, and His goodness is filling us. A meditation if you will. In order to truly meditate on something, you must have energy. Just like in any activity, you need the power to do it.

Now, meditation can be a taboo word in the Christian community. It’s usually has association with other religions or practices. However, in my research, I learned that meditation is not linked to any religion, at all. There’s actually science behind what happens. Our bodies physically benefit from this activity, and, ultimately, our souls.

Quiet Meditation

Yes, messes are all around us physically, but our minds are no different. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if God didn’t have to push through all that clutter in order to speak with us? To have an unadulterated oneness with the Lord, could you imagine? We are humans, so, this isn’t possible. However, we can create habits that drive us towards oneness.

I’m not a yoga teacher and I have no schooling in the art of meditating. All I can give you is what I have personally learned…

Clean Space

I noticed that when I need meditation most, is when there’s the biggest mess. So, finding an uncluttered, completely clean part of your home may be difficult, but it’s vital. Yes, our eyes are shut, but our minds are not fooled.

Breathe

We all know that a few deep breaths can bring calmness and clarity, but slowed, controlled breathing for periods of time, really brings a nice detox to the blood stream and the mind.

Posture

I am a sloucher. If I don’t change this habit, I see back issues in my future. Sit up straight. Really be mindful of the posture of your body. Sit in a comfortable position that allows for pristine spinal posture.

Shut Out

One part of meditation is the practice of completely shutting out the world. This is really important. As a child of God, I have a calling to not be OF this world, but to allow God to transform me. If I don’t minimize myself in meditative habit, I cannot be changed.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Romans 12:2, NIV

Thinking

This is the hardest for me; to combat human nature… I think all of the time. It’s so important to push out all our thoughts and really focus on God. I try to focus only on one thing about God: the cross, a specific characteristic, God’s work inside of me (physically or spiritually), specific scripture.

Hope for Stillness

Again, this oneness in the Lord is something only hoped for. However, stillness thins the line between hope and achievement.

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

John 15:4, NLT

Jesus came to earth, lived as one of us. He saw our struggle then, and sees our struggle now. The world pulls us in so many directions; most dragging us away from our Father. Jesus knew this truth when He spoke those words. We cannot flourish in all we do, aside from God. Making stillness a daily habit insures our actions, attitudes, thoughts are saturated in God.

We cannot flourish in all we do, aside from God. Making stillness a daily habit insures our actions, attitudes, thoughts are saturated in God. Click To Tweet

turmoil, safety, Oh Lord Help Us, ministry, women, Christian, encouragement

Unavoidable: Making Peace with the Impact of Turmoil

Devotionals, Stay SaneMarch 29, 2018September 8, 2019

Brace for impact! Turmoil in life is unavoidable, and there is no sense of control. Do we trust God with our lives? What about the lives of our children?

Last week, I had a lengthy conversation with my sister-in-law. She told me, “You have a whole heckuva lot going on in your life right now. I’m not gonna sugar coat it for ya.” Laughing, I asked her if I could quote her on that. I tend to downplay stressors in my life. Someone always has it worse. Searing loss has not ripped through our family. Yet things simmering beneath the surface are draining. They bring me to my knees, but I’m not going back often enough.

A Dream…

My husband, Sean, awakened me from a nightmare a few mornings back…

In the pre-dawn hours, I was driving in the hills of West Virginia en route to Louisville. My kids were with me; two in the back and one riding shotgun. Charging up a steep grade, we passed several cars pulled onto the shoulder that were having mechanical difficulties.

I asked my daughter to check the weather to see what we were going to be running into. As I neared a large, dark colored truck in front of me I saw my passenger side headlight was out in the reflection. I felt frustrated because I had just been through the safety inspection. In the distance a siren was blaring, getting steadily louder as we closed in on its position. The sound was coming from a white Honda Civic which was driving in reverse on the side of the road. It was alerting oncoming traffic of a wreck. Just past the Civic there were multiple cars moved off the main road that had clearly been in a major pile up.

My daughter mentioned something about possible icy conditions ahead. The sun had begun to illuminate the mountains’ dark shadows. I was behind the wheel but I could also see what was happening from the outside. An invisible force stretched across the interstate catching the front of my car. It slowed the car, extending like a sling shot. The tail end began to lift off the ground. My breaks were no longer of any use as we went airborne across the median. We made contact with the ascending terrain only once, spinning us like a fast ball toward the stone wall of a mountain. I groaned in terror as we hurled over the oncoming traffic, suspended in air and closing fast to impact. Bracing myself I thought O God; I don’t want my kids to go like this.

I could hear my muffled moan like someone had wired my mouth shut. Reality gripped as Sean shook me awake. All was quiet.

A Promise…

Unable to fall back to sleep, I went downstairs to write. Sitting down, I smiled. I knew what my dream meant. I was Louisville bound. It’s my hometown. That’s where my mom and dad are. They represent comfort, rest, security. The cars and wrecks are the heartache and hardships in the people around me. My busted headlight stands for unrest in my own life. The invisible force could signify not being able to ignore my own turmoil any longer. Propelling through the air denotes I am 100% out of control. Bracing for impact is feeling that what is happening is unavoidable. I can make peace with that; my future is secure.

Crying out to God for my children was telling. I want to shield them from the kind of agony that could end them. I feel responsible for not protecting them from hurt. Yet I know from experience, “there is no growth without pain, no integrity without self-denial,” (Brennan Manning). I don’t want to rob my children of learning to trust God’s character for themselves. Do I trust God with the lives of those I love most? My answer must be yes. Alternatively, if it is no, I have resigned to simply existing. God loves and cares for my family more than I can conceive.

Homera Homer-Dixon said “freedom from suffering leads to uselessness.” There are some days when the onslaught of pruning feels unbearable. But God will never leave us or forsake us.

I cry to God Most High, to God who accomplishes all things for me.

Psalm 57:2, NASB

There are some days when the onslaught of pruning feels unbearable. But God will never leave us or forsake us. Click To Tweet

Rest: Five Ways to Rejuvenate and Give Your Soul Rest

Devotionals, Stay SaneMarch 15, 2018September 8, 2019

We often rush to convenient measures to cope with tiredness, instead of practicing rest in our Father. God has promised all who are tired will be given supernatural rest for their souls.

Picture it: You get comfortable on the couch, turn off your brain, and watch a few hours of Golden Girls. Yep, hours. “Thank you for being a friend[…]” harmoniously sounding. You are genuinely thankful for their lack of judgement. You can tune out, not think, let those four friends whisk you away to some retirement-aged fantasy world. All the while, reality surrounds you. Messes, finances, relationships…

Welcome to my world…

Most recently, my daily routine consists of: Taxi-cab driver for my kids. Looking at half-done chores. Questioning the unknowns of life. Thinking, thinking, thinking. Shutting down. 🎶 “Thank you for being a friend[…]”

Disguising Rest

Like many people, most of my exhaustion happens in my brain. I internalize almost everything. Questions about life’s unknowns bounce around in there sucking bits of energy, little by little. Sometimes for weeks, or until there’s an answer to the question. My mind races around “ifs”, “whens”, and “hows”. I ultimately shut down; turn off completely.

Unfortunately, life is a great big ball of unknowns. So, as you can imagine, I’ve watched through Golden Girls and other mindless shows, more than once. Recklessly abandoning reality. I’ve found myself on the couch more often than I’d like to admit.

For some reason I believe “checking-out” brings refreshment. “I’ll have more energy, later.” Of course, this is a lie. This routine just puts important items on hold. They don’t go away. One could say this is a major procrastination habit. It is.

False Energy

Another way I disguise rest is in actual rest; sleeping. Now, I’m not sure if you are aware, but motherhood has a funny way of screwing up sleep habits. When I say screwing up, I mean turning sleep on it’s beautiful head and shaking until unrecognizable. “I can sleep when I’m dead”, has been stated five times, this week alone.

The weekends usually allow for some extra z’s. However, I am still tired. How much vitamin B do I have to take!? How many cups of coffee do I have to consume?

Ahha! There’s that glorious word. Coffee. If life had a beverage of choice, coffee would be very high on the list. If not #1. “Come here you beautiful cup of coffee, and lie to me about the things we will get done today.”

That’s just it. Another lie. Coffee is a bandaid for tiredness. I drink coffee all day. It helps me pretend I actually have the energy to finish the laundry, run errands, be taxi-cab driver. Pretend. I lie to myself and those around me that I’m operating on a full tank. Just one more cup will top me off.

Come here you beautiful cup of coffee, and lie to me about the things we will get done today. Click To Tweet

Soul Rest

We can’t pretend with God. He sees our empty tanks. He sees our check-out’s. Our lies. “Why don’t you intervene, God? Don’t you see this mountain of stuff? Don’t you see how tired I am?” Is that for real?? Did I really just say that to God?! I sat on my bum for three hours, watching fictitious characters and I’m questioning Him? No wonder I’m tired. My soul is tired.

God can’t energize me when I continually usher Him out the door. I allow convenience and tangibility to trump God. Worldly “rest” is easier than waiting on the Lord. But Jesus says…

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30, NIV

It’s my own fault I am tired. I procrastinate, lie, ignore God. Yet, He still invites me to lay it down and seek refuge. I can’t emphasize enough how GOOD our Father is. We create the mess, He helps tear it down and supplies ultimate fullness. The truest form of rest, is only found in Him.

Practicing Spiritual Rest

This is all fine to write/read about, but let’s get down to application. How in the world do I rest in God? There are obvious ways, like meditating scripture, praying, and worship music. But, sometimes the pit we are in takes a bit of ingenuity to climb out of.

Sleep. I already addressed this, but, if I’m honest, I do not get to bed at a decent time. This is so important for health, mind, and soul. Enough sleep creates clarity. Clarity allows us to actually SEE God.

Look for God everywhere. If my mind and eyes are fixed on Him, I see Him everywhere. It’s uplifting and encouraging to recognize God in my daily life.

Set boundaries. Limit ourselves. We are not super-humans. We can’t do it all. Setting achievable goals for the day, allows for spare time with the Lord.

Journal. (Scripture journaling for bonus points.) For someone like me, journalling is extremely beneficial. It gets the jumbled, unknowns out of my head. Again, creating clarity.

Get in nature. I am never regretful of time spent in nature. I’m able to quiet my mind and see the beauty of creation. Also, fresh air is so rejuvenating!

How do you seek rest in the Lord? What practices help you cope when you feel tired?

If you have found this inspiring, share the encouragement…

Toa Heftiba