I'm sure you've felt the rattle and heard the thumping. The stressful rhythm of the bump, bump, bump that occurs when your tires are running low on tread. When I was 16 my father told me that this meant that you were riding on "may pop", meaning that they could pop at any moment. I have begun to hear the sound lately, in more ways than one. Yes, I am purchasing new tires for my car this week but this is only part of the problem. There is another area of my life that has been running low as well. It recently occurred to me that I have gone 5 years without taking a single vacation. It's not that the vacation time was not available but that in my great enthusiasm and tremendous ambition I have failed to use it. I told myself that the opportunities that I get to travel and share God's Word are all the vacation I need and while this has worked for quite a while I have started to hear the sound in my spirit that I am running low and "may pop" if the environment (or criticisms) were just right.
While I have been hearing the sound of needed rest ringing within for quite some time now it was not until this morning that I decided to head the warning. After leaving an excellent event at the church yesterday I laid down for a moment to rest and didn't wake up until it was time for church this morning (14 hours later). As I prepared for church I was reminded of Psalm 23 that says that "He maketh me to lay down beside still waters and He restores my soul..." and felt the conviction of God for not taking heed to His commands to rest. I believe that God has been repeating to me "Lay down for a moment and rest" over and over again for months and now I'm ready to listen. What about you? Have you been so wrapped up in your goals, responsibilities and dreams that you have forgotten to trust God and rest? Have you forgotten that even God used 6 days to create and reserved one day to rest? Have you forgotten that even Jesus would take time to break away from the crowd and spend time with God or have fun at a wedding? I had but I'm thankful for a God who "Makes me lay down beside still waters..." because He knows that I wouldn't have chosen to do so on my own. Just as my car will ride smoothly after I take the time to replace the tires, my soul will ride smoothly after I take the time to relax and recharge my spiritual & emotional batteries and I don't know about you but I'd rather take the moment to make that minor adjustment than to continue to ride around on "may pop".
