I love reading the Psalms.They can bring such comfort. There is beauty in these words,and much wisdom to live by.Have you ever found yourself needing rest? Have you ever been so tired from work,or your heart is heavy with stress that you cannot sleep at night? That feeling that you are so tired and wish you could fall asleep,but your mind and body just won't allow it. As a mother, I believe we have all felt this way. Whether you work outside your home and have a family,or whether you work inside your home and homeschool your children,we know all to well what it feels like to be tired. Our jobs do not begin and end from 9-5. They are 24hr jobs. I remember the nights when my children were ill,and I would stay up all night with them.Even caring for my mother,the times at the hospital with her,that seemed to last throughout the night. Those of my friends who suffer from migraines as I do,know what staying awake all night is. For those like my daughter who work the night shift,and try to sleep in the day,and go to school also,she gets tired. Remember when you brought your baby home from the hospital and he or she didnt quiet know when to sleep? I remember being so tired,I thought my son was next to me in bed,as I awoke and was terrified that I couldnt remember where I put him.He was in his bed safe and sound. You may have parents who you are caring for,or you yourself may be suffering with an illness,maybe you have a heavy heart over the lost ones in your family. You have lost your job and are having sleepless nights as my husband. All these things can way us down,like carrying too much luggage around. God,did make the earth and all in it in six days,and He called for a day of rest.( Genesis 2:1-3) If we look at scripture there are many verses on rest. In Psalm 62:1-2 it states; "My soul finds rest in God alone;my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation;He is my fortress, I will never be shaken." Can you hear these wonderful words? We can find rest in God. What a powerful verse we have here. No matter what is going on in our lives we can find rest in Him. He is our Rock and our Fortress. When we put our faith in Him,nothing,not nothing can shake us. Why do we keep saying yes all the time,when we clearly have too much going on in our lives? Much of my own burdens were from me,putting too much on myself and thinking I can do it all.A friend asked me yesterday with her two children,"How did you raise five kids?" I had to tell her,I have no idea. I am still amazed today,as I look at others with children and I think,wow,how did we do that. We put so much on ourselves,we try so very hard to do everything.When we begin to do that we are letting something go. We cannot give 100% to everything. Somewhere along the road we are going to break. The load we are trying so hard to carry is going to falter. As I grew,I realized I cannot do it all.For us to be strong in the Lord,is for us to be weak in ourselves. Meaning we have to realize we cannot do it all,all the time. We have to allow God to take hold of some of the burdens we are carrying. When we are not resting,and have too much to carry,we start to realize the stress starts to do things to our bodies. We weren't made to carry so much stress. We are to let those things go,and find our strength in our Rock. When you are growing tired and weary,we must turn to the Lord for help. Matthew 11:28-30 says; "Come to Me,all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart., and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." We do not have to suffer under a heavy load.We can find rest and peace if we allow Jesus to take those griefs and burdens away. We don't have to hold on to them. He wants to carry them for you and for me. For those of you struggling,tired and weak,Jesus is the answer. We can go to Him and He will lighten our load. He will give us all we need. We have to come to the conclusion that we cannot do it all. We can learn to give up some things and change the way we are thinking. God is there for us to lighten our burdens,we just have to let Him and when we finally do, we will find rest in Him.
