We Do Best...When We Rest

We are at our best when we take time to rest. That is one area I sometimes have to work on. How about you? A few years back, 3 different people, unbeknownst to each other, gave me a copy of Tim Hansel’s When I Relax I Feel Guilty.

A staff member recently told me, “There’s Type A and Type B...but you’re Triple-A!” I'm blessed and grateful for the ministry God’s called me to. I’ve learned how short life is, I love my family and my God. So whether it’s turning in at a reasonable hour at night, sleeping in in the morning, taking “time off” or even walking away from my phone, I don’t shut off…naturally. But I do shut down…intentionally.

There are few things God designed us to need every day: food, water, sleep (rest). Jesus is the BREAD of life (John 6:35), and the source of living WATER (John 4:10) and REST (Mt. 11:28). The 3 things we need every day are symbolic of Him in every way. We’re usually good at the first 2, but how seriously do we take rest?

Take a challenge with me this week and be intentional, purposeful, and faithful not just about the Sabbath itself, but about REALLY resting in Him. Shut down distractions in an act of obedience and readiness for all His promises…and rest. For some of us, it may be the hardest homework you've had in a while! But it’s an investment God can really work with!

Let's give him our best...and rest.

“Tell the story. Give God Glory”
Take the rest challenge and share with #NewVentureChristianFellowship how God uses that in your life. Comment here or email mystory@newventure.org.

Bigger Perspective, Better Plan, Greater Purpose

“My tears have been my food day and night.” (Psalm 43:3) It sounds like a bummer of a beginning to a blog but how many can relate? 100% of believers will go through a period where God seems to go silent, or where we’re going through difficult circumstances “Why didn’t you get me out of the path of this circumstance you brought to my doorstep, or this experience I’m going through? If you love me so much, why does this have to happen to me?” Jesus can use any circumstance as a tool for greater things in your earthly life or to attain eternal life.

I remember years back on one of several trips to Scotland, being met at the airport by the local vicar. As we traveled through boroughs, we arrived at the residence next to a church with a large steeple. In the morning I went for a run and realized after some time, I had gotten lost.  Overlooking the township, I recognized one thing: the cross on the steeple. I realized if I could get to the cross, I could find my way back home! The cross carries with it a message of redemption and life – the opposite of “what the enemy intended” (Genesis 50:20). Christ turned an image of trial and defeat into a symbol of hope and new life through His “Bigger Perspective, Better Plan, and Greater Purpose.”

The word for race in Hebrews 12:1 is “Agonas” (the root word for “agony”) and refers to a marathon. The race you and I are called to isn’t easy – there’s struggle and strain; it often feels “uphill both ways.” But Hebrews 12:3 tells us how to run the race: “Fix Your Eyes on Him.” God reminds us repeatedly, “My ways are higher than your ways,” (Isaiah 55:8-9) and when we fix our eyes on His ways – Perspective, Plan, Purpose – we begin to see a better way through. The race may be challenging at times – but with His promises for what He’s growing in us and the Finish Line we’re headed to, it’s a race worth running!

All for Him!

Heb 4:13, Is 55: 8-9, II Cor. 12:8-9