No Rest For The Weary

It's raining today. I like how the rain makes the colors of everything more vibrant. There's a little grackle sitting in the branches of the tree outside my window. He isn't finding too much shelter from the rain, but he's stretching his neck looking for something. Now he's stretching his wings and picking at his feathers.....spreading his tail feathers and giving them a good shake. Grackles are considered an ugly bird because they usually come in swarms with chirping so immense and loud that they sound like some horrible beast from a science fiction movie. This one however, is beautiful in it's solitary quietness. He's navigating the branches between tender new leaves and he's looking around....maybe wondering where the rest of his flock is.
I feel like I live my life in the midst of a screaming, screeching flock most of the time. Go here, rush there, hurry up to do this, wait, you forgot to do that. Go go go go go.......no rest, no peace....just endless loud motion. Today I'm sitting...the window is cracked a little so I can smell the wet grass and the rain and it's so nice. Even the sound of cars whishing by on the wet street is pleasant. There's something so amazingly relaxing about watching rain drops race down a pane of glass.
We don't rest enough in America.....we just go go go. Even our vacations are so busy we don't achieve true rest. If God rested on the seventh day after creating all of creation....don't you think we should rest too? I mean, we aren't better than God....and if He needed it...or decided to take it...shouldn't we follow His example? We must stop the constant abuse and wear and tear on our bodies and disconnect every once in a while. We must rest or our bodies and minds become weary and eventually we are no good to anybody. As Christians we need to take the need for rest to an entirely different level. If we're supposed to be ready at any given moment to fulfill any need God brings across our path...how will we be able to serve Him fully if we're too mentally, physically or emotionally exhausted to even get out the door. To rest isn't to become inactive....it's to be proactive. We rest to prepare for the next round of the battle.

Get your rest this week....somehow, somewhere, find time to truly rest....you need it.

Love and Peace,
Belda