Rest

I've been working my way through the "Life Apps" sermon series that took place a few weeks ago at North Point Community Church. Today I listened to Part 4, The Rest App. The series is based on James 1:22 which states; "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." Part 4 is all about the idea of rest. God took a day of rest, why don't we?

In our crazy, fast-paced culture, we don't take the necessary time to rest. I'm as guilty of it as the next person, and, honestly, I'm pretty burned out in a lot of areas right now because of it. In this message, Jeff Henderson talks about how we are an exhausted society and this continued behavior is robbing us of the joy of life and it's robbing us emotionally, physically, relationally and spiritually. He goes on to talk about how our relationships with God and others are enriched when we are refreshed, energized and recharged rather than suffer due to being drained and lacking energy. One statement in particular stood out; "Your life moves to a better place when you move at a sustained pace."

That's so true but often we continue to think we can fit it all in or we're afraid we're going to miss something. Some of these things are even good things, but too much of it can rob us from being effective, joyful, and fulfilled.

Maybe this is something I should be paying closer attention to. Shortly after listening to this message, I read a blog post by our Youth Pastor that touches on a similar subject.

I suppose these two instances are further evidence that it's time to stop listening only . . . . and start doing. (And by doing, at least in reference to this post, that means rest and not more doing!)