Skip to main content

Come away with me

 

Today I decided to put all renovations out of my mind (although the electrician was coming to fix the power point that was in the wrong place and the concrete contractor was supposed to be pouring concrete). I left my husband in charge and met my pastor for morning coffee. We talked, discussed some issues with our children’s ministry as I had led this for thirty years, laughed and connected. She has become a very special friend. It was wonderful that she had set aside as much time as needed for our meeting so there was no sense of having to rush.

Then I went and picked up another dear friend for our scheduled weekly lunch date. This dear friend had been ill for several weeks so it was a delight to have that time together again. Again, we just relaxed and caught up with each other’s lives.

On the way home I called in to see my brother for a few minutes as I hadn’t seen him in a while.

I am blessed to have a close circle of friends and a loving extended family. I especially appreciated having a day where I was able to just relax and refresh through my conversations. I don’t do this often enough, always rushing here and there getting things done. My diary always looks very busy! God has impressed on me though, the importance of being flexible so that my diary doesn’t rule me. I always need to be open to hearing from the Holy Spirit and making a detour from scheduled tasks if necessary. This isn’t always easy for me as I am an organised task-oriented person. Some great lessons there for me to learn.

Today I want to encourage you to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, even if it interrupts your routine. I also encourage you to take time to step aside from your routine and rest. In Mark 6:31 and 32 Jesus said to His disciples to ‘come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest’ (NIV). A tired follower of Christ is vulnerable to temptation and to burnout. So get some rest.

The electrician came but the concrete contractor didn’t. Oh well!

‘The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.’

Numbers 6:24-26.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Taking Time Out

  I had the privilege this week of attending a retreat with five other women. The retreat was over three days but unfortunately some of the nine women who intended to go, were unable to as other urgent commitments came up and needed to be kept. So it became a bit different than expected. Six of us attended the first day, but two of us could only go for the day. Another two were going out the following day for the rest of the retreat. Unfortunately one of our ladies became quite sick and to her disappointment missed it all. However, the day I attended was blessed.   The retreat was held at a beach house belonging to one of the group, at an isolated beach about an hours drive away. It was a beautiful sunny day. We deposited our bags and the first thing we did after admiring the view, was to have a cup of tea. This lead to a lovely lazy discussion about all sorts of things, a great introduction to spending time together. Following this we spent about an hour studying and discus...
Post a Comment
Read more

Friends

  I am so blessed to have a circle of really good friends in my life. I am a definite introvert so find it really easy to simply stay home, especially if I have a good book to read. I am an avid reader of Christian fiction. However, I do know that it is better that I have some socialization. Research shows that isolation increases the risk of an early death as well as the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease so obviously I want to avoid that if possible. Research also shows that socialization is good for brain health including making your memory sharper as well as increasing well-being and feelings of belonging. Although as an introvert I find socialization can be a little exhausting, I do enjoy time with my friends and it makes me happy. Introverts tend to have a few very close friends whilst extroverts tend to be friends with everyone and find socialization energizing—strangers are only ‘friends they haven’t yet met’! Now that is of course a very broad generalization, but i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Planting Seeds

  Carrying on from last week, I was wondering how I am sowing seeds. I realised that we can all sow seeds everywhere we go. I don’t go out that often actually, I don’t belong to any secular groups but I can still be responsive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Under his leading I made a determined effort to get to know the names of all the staff at my two favourite cafés that I visit at least weekly. I ask about their families; I support where I can. My friends and I find opportunities to give them all a little gift of chocolate and a card with a verse of scripture written on it. They all know we are Christians. I guess that might be called planting seeds. I converse with the supermarket checkout operators just to have a chance to bring a blessing to them. Some of them now know I am a Christian. I can easily bring God into conversations with unsaved family members, neighbours and strangers I stop and talk to in the park—with the leading of the Holy Spirit. I do not adopt a heavy...
Post a Comment
Read more