What Have You Done Today?

Many years ago when my husband and I went through counseling to try to firm up some sagging places in our marriage, our counselor told him that when he came home from work, my husband was not allowed to ask me what I had done that day.

We had small children at that point, and I was volunteering at our eldest’s parent-involved school 2 days a week. I was lucky to get dinner on the table each day.

I am not a high-energy person when it comes to physical labor. I can’t work in the hot Florida sun for more than about an hour before I’m just done. My husband can go on for hours at a time.

Sometimes I feel guilty for being inside in the air conditioning. Maybe I’m reading a book. Maybe I’m playing a mindless game. Or maybe I’m working on my computer, actually accomplishing something.

Wait, what was that I just said?

That’s exactly the problem. If I’m just resting or reading or playing, I have the mindset that I’m not ACCOMPLISHING anything.

And that needs to change.

There’s a saying: God made us human BEings, not human DOings.

Yes, there are chores that need to be done. But sometimes just BEing takes precedence.

 

This post is a part of the Five-Minute Friday link up. Join the fun! Today’s prompt is “done.”

Rest

Rest

A few days ago I wrote a post about relaxation on my Facebook author page and how that isn’t the same thing as rest. On Sunday I was sitting in my family room watching football, which can be relaxing, if your team wasn’t in the process of losing mostly because they gave up 4 turnovers.

Sigh

But I digress. It was a relaxing afternoon, but I must admit, that my mind was still running and therefore I’m not sure I was really experiencing rest.

Jesus said, “Come to Me all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

He’s not saying, “I’ll give you a break for a little while so you can catch your breath.” He’s talking about true rest, where our burdens are not our burdens anymore. We have laid them on the deep, strong shoulders of Jesus, and He takes them. Forever.

Sunday is called a day of rest, but in this time, there is still a lot of controversy about that. Some people say you can’t do any work at all. You can’t mow your lawn, you can’t do your laundry, you can’t cook.

Some take it to mean you shouldn’t go shopping or out to eat, because then you’re making someone else work.

I think I can make dinner and be totally at rest because my mind is stayed on Him.

Or I can be sitting and reading a book and be burdened by things that are not mine to carry, and be very much not at rest.

So rest for me means a lifestyle. Sabbath rest means I am trusting in Jesus to always carry my burdens. I am fixing my eyes on Him. I am filling my mind with praise music and talking about Him with those I spend time with.

This is not just on Sundays.

I can’t go to church and not do all those things that people say I should not do on Sundays, and then turn around on Monday morning with a knot in my stomach because of all the cares I am hauling around.

Some versions of the Bible use “rest” when they’re talking about death. Maybe that can look like dying to yourself over those things you want to carry but shouldn’t. Maybe that’s taking an analogy too far, but it makes sense.

Rest. Don’t pick up that thing that’s not yours to carry. Don’t take on that task that’s not yours to do. Don’t worry about that situation over which you have no control.

Psalm 62:1: “Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him.”

 

What Did You Do Today?

After going through some marriage counseling, my husband learned that he was never to ask me the question “What did you do today?” If I needed to rest, I was to be allowed to rest. If all I accomplished was getting out of bed and getting the kids off to school, then that was OK. If I just needed to sit and read a book, I was to be allowed that freedom.

As moms, I think we get caught up in the doing, and we forget about the being. I am not loved because of what I do; I am loved because of who I am. And who I am is not dependent on the jobs that I have or the title I might hold. Who I am is completely dependent on who God made me to be. My identity cannot be in what I do, or I will spend my whole life striving. The rest I long to find will never come.

In Psalm 46:10 says “Cease striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

The New International Version translates it “Be still.” When we know that there is so much work to do, how hard is being still? This morning, one of the women from my office shared that God showed her that sometimes that means just sitting cross-legged in front of Jesus and letting Him look at you. That’s a great picture. Awkward, it might seem, but necessary. Am I letting Him see me? Am I letting Him tell me what HE wants me to do, rather than telling Him what I want to do?

This afternoon, my husband and I took our eldest son for a second job interview at a soon-to-be-opening restaurant in the area. Not two minutes after I prayed that God would do what He would do in that interview, my son came back to tell us that the hiring manager had told him that, whereas they really liked him, they were full up on 15-year-olds and to come back when he was 16 and he would have a job.

God is in control. He knew that “interview” would turn out the way it would without my efforts to make it any different. What could I do anyway?

What can I in my own strength do about anything?

So, what did I do today? Did I rest in Him? Did I cease my striving?

There’s a reason we’re not called “human doings.” We’re called human “BEings.” Makes a lot of sense to me.

Here’s a song that speaks to that. Enjoy. Restless

Thankful today for:

600. retreats

601. meals paid for by someone else

602. rest

603. newness