“He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.”
Psalm 23 :2
LEARN
Rest. Who has time for that? There’s always some place to be, somewhere to go, something that needs to be accomplished and checked off the to do list. It’s not bad to have goals and the drive to accomplish, but do we get to the finish line with a heart that is jouful and fully present or one that we don’t even know the state of, or is mangled in the making? What that could look like, is random breakdowns, emotions all over the place, very out of touch with the original purpose God has for us, feeling like we’re not hearing from God, or simply getting sick. Chances are, we’ve all been there at any of those points. The truth is, it doesn’t happen overnight, and usually there are warning signals along the way, but if we are too busy to notice, it seems to happen abruptly. We can be so busy doing for God, that we forget to spend time letting Him heal, refresh and renew our hearts. Sometimes we don’t slow down because we’re nervous about what's really going on in our hearts and are anxious about dealing with what could be there, or feel like there’s just not time for it. Green pastures are nice, and still waters are great, but we often pass up the opportunities and invites from God to embrace those places as the better option.
KNOW
Our hearts are like a snow globe, when we are so busy - it’s like shaking the snow globe, but instead of a sweet little snowfall to admire, it can be a nasty blizzard, and you can’t tell the actual content inside. We need rest and stillness to see what’s really going on - the good, the bad, to hear from God, and what needs to be healed. Snow globes are beautiful when all shook up, but there’s also a beauty of when the contents have settled, and you can fully see the setting that is inside.
Our hearts are also like cars, they need regular maintenance, not just to be taken care of when there’s a random breakdown. Everyone wants to go on road trips and get to where they need to go, but there’s not many of us who will raise our hand saying that we enjoy stopping to get gas, get oil changes, or take our car in to get something worked on. (Maybe some of us like getting a car wash though).
The Lord is our good shepherd, and we, just like sheep, do not always rest easily, needing our good shepherd to lead us into rest. He knows when we need rest, and that stillness is needed in that equation. Self care these days, equates to things like netflix or baking, which isn’t always what our hearts need for refreshment. It might take a load off, but our hearts need rebuilding that only true refreshment and revelation from the Lord can give, that makes lasting change.
DO
Accept Invitation of Rest, Journal & Pray
One of the best ways to know what is really going on in our hearts, is to accept the invitation from God into stillness. To sit with Him, and observe what is going on in our hearts. Then journaling these things can be very beneficial. While writing, we discover the contents even more in our hearts, and can bring those things to the Lord in prayer, and receive His truth and healing over it. Also inviting other sisters in Christ to join you in prayer is huge (Matthew 18:20)!
Be Aware of What’s Allowed in Your Heart
Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
The people, music, messages that we are exposed to, go right into our heart and influence us. If we’re not filling our hearts with the word of God or truth, something else that will negatively affect us, and is going to take its place.
Go by the Truth, not Feelings
John 14:1 says “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.”
God doesn’t want to leave us hopeless in our mess if our hearts are troubled. He doesn’t want us to ignore a less than stellar state of our hearts either. A step in the right direction of a well-rested heart is believing that Jesus IS the son of God, and DOES want us to live in victory and empower us to move forward with healthy and joyful hearts. He went to the cross, not just for our salvation, but also that we might be healed in spirit, soul, and body.
