Time for Rest and Renewal

Time for Rest and Renewal

Time for rest and renwal

It’s time for rest and renewal, don’t you think? I’m ready for it anyway. It has been an emotional roller coaster month for my family and as I seek a new direction I feel I am truly in need of rest and renewal. That’s why I felt truly blessed when a friend of mine shared a Bible passage that had touched her heart.

“‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.  As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. 

I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord.  I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice. (Ezekiel 34:11-16, NIV,*)

Time for rest and renewal

Isn’t this a wonderful passage full of God’s promises to take care of us, to look after us? We are truly blessed to be called his children, his sheep. He wants to rescue us and give us what we need: rest and renewal.

Jesus will personally bind up our injures and strengthen the weak. That’s what I need, maybe you too. How blessed we are to have God who wants what’s best for us, who knows us and what we need and when we need it.

So it’s time to stop trying to manage our wounds on our own. It’s time to let our Shepherd take care of us. And it’s time to rest in him. You see, rest and renewal happen in God’s arms. While we receive little TLC, something new is born within us.

That’s why the time for rest and renewal is never wasted time. Instead, it’s a sacred time. While we rest in God, the Holy Spirit ministers to us. Our life is not dependent on our efficiency but on God’s power and grace. So stop worrying, fretting, and overachieving. God’s got this. Rest assured, he will take care of you. So relax and rest in him.

Gracious God,
Thank you for taking care of us.
It means so much to us.
Help us to let go of our fears and worries
and learn to truly rest in you.
Bind our wounds, Lord.
Give us rest and renewal.
Bless us with every blessing.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Announcement

Dear friends of Flowing Faith! I’ve been blogging several times a week for over a decade now without any breaks. Now I’ve felt lead to take a vacation for the whole month of July. Truly, I am in need of rest and renewal. God is leading me to green pastures and I thank Him for it. Hopefully, I see you back here in August. Meanwhile, may God richly bless you and keep you close to his heart!

Photo by Tobias Tullius on Unsplash.

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