Picture yourself for a second sitting by yourself by the ocean side just listening to the ripples and waves of the water crashing in. Suspend yourself from where you are currently at and place yourself directly in the middle of the biggest rain forest you can ever imagine. Listen to the water droplets, the subtle chirp of a distant bird or the echoing hiccup of a spotted frog near your foot. Paint this picture in your mind for just a minute. You are standing at the edge of a tall mountainside, there is a long river that extends from behind the mountain heading out towards the west where you see with pure amazement, the sun setting. There is not a single cloud in the sky. You gaze upon the beauty of the sun as you have never seen it so big and vibrant before. You reach out your hand towards the west and then raise them high above you in complete surrender, for a moment like this is but a still portrait. And when you least expect it...Sirens go off, cars drive by honking, and yelling erupts. You lower your hands and turn your back to the sun and start to head back to what you were doing. You quickly forget about that split second in history where for a moment or less, you were free. Is this not how our worlds are designed and constructed? We are constantly moving and doing and never take the time to sit in silence to just rest. I struggle to understand why we do not truly rest away from the constant distractions of our world. Most of us cannot sit more then 5 feet away from our phone without feeling self conscious or in complete bluntness, naked. Our distractions are that which cloth us and make us. We will quickly make plans to do something or go somewhere, but we will not stop and let our bodies truly rest.
When is the last time you sat in a room, a car, in a park, and just did nothing whatsoever? I mean really, when was the last time you placed yourself away from just everything and anything? Some of you reading this may think I am completely crazy for even recommending time away from everything and just spending time by yourself in complete quietness. Honestly, I am okay with you thinking that, because until you have done it, you cannot love it. Many of you are too scared to stand up and be away from your Facebook for more then a minute because of your fear of missing something.
Let me tell you this: all the things in this world will be here and one day will pass. Your distractions will always be there to push you away from building you up. As great as it is to spend time with loved ones, sometimes you just need to be away from them. Even those that love you can distract you. That is hard to comprehend and understand, but the reality is, everything in this world can distract you. The biggest danger does not lie with everything that surrounds you. Rather, it lies within you. The biggest distraction that hinders your ability to find complete rest, is yourself. You will give yourself an excuse to everything and will never fall short of excusing yourself from an opportunity to just find rest. Why are you fighting yourself? Do you not realize that you will never win the battle. You will only hurt yourself and take away from the amazing life you can have.
You need to allow your mind to rest, your heart to be still and your body to heal itself. I know some of you think you are strong and picture yourselves as some morph of Superman, but you cannot do what Superman does, because it is fiction. The only One who was able to conquer all was He who came, taught, loved, died and was resurrected. Through it all, He found time to rest and take sabbath time to be with His father. True rest lies within the Father and no one else. Listen to the still silence and find His voice. Through His words you can be stronger, wiser and happier. He wants to take care of you and hold you near. He will protect you from all your distractions, if you allow Him to.
I encourage you to spend an hour every day, or at least a few days a week and take yourself away from everything and just spend it in complete silence. Allow that time to be spent with Him and listen to the beauty of His nature. Give yourself what you deserve, which is a break. Don't overwork yourself, don't stress yourself and don't ever give up on what you can do with your life. Challenge yourself to find rest, and if you do not feel better I sincerely apologize. I want nothing more then for your lives to be filled with joy, love and peace. I am completely confident, with not even a hint of doubt that He is rest and He is OUR strength.
Within the silence, seek the stillness of love and rest will be laid upon you
That is Truth
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