Return to Rest

“Our lives get loud.  Our days get noisy.  Make space for quiet.”

Loren Thornburg

Personal retreats are my new favorite tradition.  I don’t realize how loud my life gets and how tired I am until I step away from all of the noise that is my life.  There is something about getting out of my normal environment away from distractions that brings a peace I didn’t know I needed.  These retreats often begin with a nice long nap.  It’s the nap that tells me I’ve been really tired and I was too busy to realize it.  In addition to lots of rest I also read and remember.  I love to look back over the last year and see where I was and how I’ve changed.  The reading, resting and remembering brings the refreshment I need.  The trick is making space for time away.  Whether it’s a few hours or a few days, it’s hard to do.  You have to plan around it or something else will get planned.  Our lives get loud.  Our days get noisy.  Make space for quiet.  

“...Relax and rest. God has showered you with blessings.  Soul, you’ve been rescued from death; Eye, you’ve been rescued from tears;  And you, Foot, were kept from stumbling.”

Psalm 116:7 Message

I love this invitation to rest and remember.  As we rest in who God is and all that He has done refreshment is sure to follow.  Our culture places such a value on doing and productivity that we miss this invitation and decide it’s not as valuable as the invitation to be busy.  Being idle is often viewed as a waste of time, yet God asks us to rest.  David gives us an example of what that looks like here in the Psalm.  He is intentional to remember the blessings of God.  You’ve been rescued from death, tears and stumbling.  Rest in the ways God has showered you with blessings.  Relax in Him, your Father, who takes such good care of you.  He is inviting you to rest.  He calls you to remember.  Let’s follow David and take time away to relax and rest with the Lord.  How have you been rescued and blessed?

Celebrating Change

“Change brings much sadness, but it is also change that brings much joy and reason to celebrate.”

Loren Thornburg

I’ve been going to Southeast Asia for 6 years now.  Lots of things have changed in 6 years.  As I look at this country I celebrate and grieve the changes I see.  I celebrate the openness that is happening for it allows foreigners like me into places we once couldn’t go.  Yet, I grieve the advancements that are making this place look more like the rest of the world.  As I look at my life I am thankful for changes.  Changes have allowed me to mature, become more content, and be more of me.  Yet I grieve the part of change that means less time with people I love.  In an ever changing world we can only expect an ever changing life.  With an ever changing life I can only hope to be a part of the change that brings celebrating.  Change is inevitable.  So if you can’t avoid it join with it.  Find the change that brings reason to celebrate.  Be the change that brings more reason to celebrate.  

"God is not man, one given to lies, and not a son of man changing his mind. Does he speak and not do what he says? Does he promise and not come through?”

Numbers 23:19 Message

God doesn’t change.  His person doesn’t change, His reliability doesn’t change, His promises don’t change, and His love for You doesn’t change.  Nothing about what is true of Him changes.  No, not ever will He change. He is committed to change while remaining unchanging.  He is committed to bring the change in me that brings me to Him and that makes all the difference.  That makes me able to endure all the changes around me.  It reminds me of the picture that one man on a rock can save many who are drowning.  He is the one on the rock that saves.  He saved me and keeps saving me.  He came to save you and to keep saving you.  So whatever change seems to be taking you away you can reach out your hand to the One who never changes.  His word never changes and nothing you can do can change His mind about you.  He loves you.  Let Him be the change in you that brings the change to others.  He is the change that saves.